The Iranian Intelligence Ministry has released the names of and other information about the five Takfiri Daesh terrorists who carried out twin attacks in the Iranian capital city of Tehran on Wednesday.

The Intelligence Ministry on Thursday released a statement detailing information on the five terrorists and “affiliated nuclei,” whose full identities it said had been determined after intelligence work by the Ministry.

The statement only released the first names of the terrorists and said that their last names were being withheld due to “certain social and security considerations.”

On Wednesday, gunmen stormed Iran’s Parliament (Majlis) and the Mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, in two coordinated attacks. At least 17 people lost their lives and nearly 50 others were wounded in the assaults, which involved shootings and blasts. Daesh claimed responsibility for the attacks.

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According to the Intelligence Ministry’s Thursday statement, the individuals involved in carrying out the attacks were five elements with a history of past terrorist activities and linked to Wahhabi and Takfiri groups.

They were identified as Seriyas, Fereydoun, Qayyoum, Abu Jahad, and Ramin.

The statement said that the five had left Iran after being recruited by the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group and had participated in the group’s atrocities in the Iraqi city of Mosul and the Syrian city of Raqqah.

It said they had entered Iran in July-August 2016 under the command of “Abu Ayesheh” — a high-ranking commander with the Daesh terrorist group — and planned to carry out terror attacks in religious cities in Iran, but “had fled the country following the full obliteration of the network and blows [dealt] to the case’s main elements, including the killing of Abu Ayesheh.”

Iranian security forces are seen outside the Iranian Parliament in the capital, Tehran, on June 7, 2017, during an attack on the complex. (Photo by AFP)

Wahhabi terrorist groups are closely associated with Saudi Arabia, where government-sanctioned clerics preach the strongly intolerant pseudo-ideology of Wahhabism.

Earlier on Thursday, Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi said that it was still soon to judge whether Saudi Arabia had had a role in the attacks in Tehran.

He did say however that in the current month and in recent days, “we witnessed heavy pressure from terrorists, to the extent that we have been identifying and arresting two-member and three-member teams or single individuals every week.”

Earlier, in May, the Saudi defense minister, Mohammed bin Salman, had threatened in opaque remarks to move “the battle” to Iran.

In his earlier remarks, Alavi also said that the Intelligence Ministry had identified other individuals who helped the five terrorists stage the attacks.

While Iranian people have been mourning the victims of the terrorist attacks, there has also been a strengthened sense of unity among them.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that the terror attacks in Tehran could not undermine the Iranian nation’s resolve in the face of threats.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also condemned the attacks as “cowardly,” stressing that the country would crush enemy plots through unity and solidarity.

The attacks also drew strong international condemnation, with many heads of states extending condolences to the Iranian nation and government.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) blamed the sponsors of the Takfiri Daesh for the attacks and pledged to retaliate.

The IRGC said the fact that the terrorist attacks had been carried out by Daesh just days after US President Donald Trump met with “the rulers of a regional reactionary regime,” which has been supporting Takfiri terrorists — a thinly-veiled reference to Saudi Arabia — indicated that “they have a hand in the bestial attacks.” </s> The five men who carried out twin attacks in Tehran were Iranians who joined the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria before returning last summer, the intelligence ministry said Thursday.

"The five known terrorists... after joining the Daesh (IS) terrorist group, left the country and participated in crimes carried out by this terrorist group in Mosul and Raqa," the ministry said in a statement.

The statement indicates only five people carried out Wednesday's twin attacks, rather than six originally reported.

The ministry released images and the first names of the dead attackers, who killed 17 people and wounded dozens in gun and bomb assaults on Tehran's parliamentary complex and the shrine of revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on Wednesday.

It said the five men were part of a network that entered Iran in July-August 2016 under the leadership of "high-ranking Daesh commander" Abu Aisha and that "intended to carry out terrorist operations in religious cities."

Abu Aisha was killed and the network forced to flee the country, the statement said.

It was not clear when the five men returned to Iran ahead of Wednesday's attacks. </s> Thousands filled the streets of the capital Friday to mourn 17 victims of two attacks this week by Islamic State militants, the first time in recent memory Sunni jihadists managed to strike the heart of the Shiite Islamic Republic.

Six attackers died — including five men and a woman who blew herself up — and several were detained in connection with the attacks Wednesday at Iran’s parliament and the tomb of Iran’s revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. More than 50 people were wounded in the morning attack on parliament, which was in session.

According to an Iranian government statement, the male attackers had returned to the country last summer after fighting for Islamic State in Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqah, Syria, and had “intended to carry out terrorist operations in religious cities.” The statement did not say whether the attackers were Iranian citizens.

Reza Seifollahi, deputy chief of the Supreme National Security Council, told the independent newspaper Shargh that the male attackers were Iranian.

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Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said Friday that more than three dozen suspects had been arrested across the country in connection with the attacks.

“With the help of security forces and families of the suspects, 41 people linked to the attacks and to Daesh have been arrested in different provinces,” state television quoted the interior ministry as saying, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. “Lots of documents and weaponry have been seized as well.”

The attacks came at a particularly charged time in the region, days after Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of backing Tehran and militant groups.

Before a funeral procession at parliament early Friday for guards killed there, Iran’s supreme leader said the attacks will add to Iranians’ hatred of the United States and Saudi Arabia. In the wake of the attacks, Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard also released a statement implying that the U.S. and Saudi Arabia were to blame.

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Supreme leader Ali Khamenei said the attacks “will not damage the Iranian nation’s determination, and the obvious result is nothing except an increase in hate for the governments of the United States and their stooges in the region like Saudi.”

Saudi Arabia has denied responsibility for the attacks.

Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, also spoke out ahead of the funerals.

“Daesh is an international danger,” he said.

Mourners gathered outside the parliament complex Friday to watch the funeral procession. Some cried, while others chanted, “Death to Saudi Arabia,” “Death to America” and “God is greatest.” Some carried pictures of Khamenei that said, “We are ready to sacrifice our blood for you.” Onlookers reached out to touch passing victims’ coffins, wrapped in Iranian flags.

Mohammad Rasouli, 66, sitting on the ground with a group across the street, said it was his duty to attend the procession and an afternoon funeral expected at 2 p.m. during weekly prayers.

“I came with my friends to show our solidarity with our supreme leader and nation. From here, we go to Friday prayers. If we do not go there, Daesh will be emboldened,” he said.

During the procession through parliament, the heads of Iran’s executive, legislative and judiciary branches all paid their respects, including President Hassan Rouhani, Larijani and the head of the judiciary, Sadeq Amoli Larijani. Unlike other leaders, Rouhani, a moderate, didn’t blame foreign powers, but rather said the attacks targeted peace and democracy.

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Parliamentary staff who survived the attack also attended the procession under tight security. They stood alongside friends and family of the victims, who dressed in black.

Special correspondent Mostaghim reported from Tehran. Times staff reporter Hennessy-Fiske reported from Beirut.

UPDATES:

10:30 a.m.: This article was updated with details about the funeral.

This article was originally published at 8:20 a.m. </s> Tehran: The five men who carried out twin attacks in Tehran were Iranians who joined the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria before returning last summer, the intelligence ministry said Thursday.

"The five known terrorists... after joining the Daesh (IS) terrorist group, left the country and participated in crimes carried out by this terrorist group in Mosul and Raqa," the ministry said in a statement.

The statement indicates only five people carried out Wednesday`s twin attacks, rather than six originally reported. </s> The attackers who stormed Tehran´s parliament complex and the revolutionary leader´s shrine on Wednesday were Iranian nationals who had joined Daesh, a top official said. The six attackers “were Iranian and joined Daesh from some parts of Iran,” said Reza Seifollahi, deputy secretary of Iran´s Supreme National Security Council, on state TV late.—AFP </s> The Islamic State (Isil) has claimed responsibility for a coordinated attack by gunmen and suicide bombers on Iran’s parliament and the the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of the Iranian Revolution.

Teams of attackers struck the two sites in Tehran early on Wednesday morning, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens of others, according to Iranian state media. If confirmed that Isil was behind the attack, it would be their most ambitious operation yet against Iran.

One suicide bomber blew themselves up at the Khomeini shrine, which is highly symbolic for Iran’s theocratic leadership. A second bomber later detonated their explosives at the parliament during a stand off with security forces.

Isil’s Amaq news agency released a short statement soon after the attacks saying: “Fighters from the Islamic State attacked the shrine of Khomeini and the Iranian parliament building in the centre of Tehran.”

The jihadist group claimed credit with unusual speed and released a video of the attackers inside the parliament building. </s> TEHRAN: Twenty-six alleged members of the Islamic State group went on trial in Iran on Saturday (Apr 28) over attacks last year on parliament and the tomb of revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini, local media reported.

Seventeen people were killed and dozens injured in the simultaneous attacks in Tehran on Jun 7-- the first claimed by IS inside Iran.

The judiciary-linked Mizan news agency said several of the accused were Iranians who had left to join IS in neighbouring countries and returned for the attacks.

Five attackers were killed on the day, but police said at the time that five people had been arrested at the scenes of the attacks in central and south Tehran.

Dozens more arrests were reported in the following months - many in operations along the borders with Iraq and Turkey.

There were few details from the first day of the trial, which was held in the presence of the victims' families.

Most of Iran's population is Shiite, and therefore considered heretics by the Sunni jihadists of IS, who have increasingly called for attacks on the country.

Iran has also supported the governments of Iraq and Syria against IS and other jihadist insurgents. </s> Trial opened in a Tehran court on April 28 for the Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) terrorists involved in the June 2017 attack on the Iranian parliament, Fars news agency reported.

Two separate attacks rocked the capital city of Tehran on June 7, leaving at least 17 dead and 43 injured.

The attacks were simultaneously carried out by five IS-linked terrorists against the Iranian Parliament building and the Mausoleum of late Imam Khomeini.

Eight IS members are now being tried at Tehran Revolutionary Court in the presence of their lawyers and families of those killed in the attack.

Based on the indictment, one of the suspects has joined the IS in a foreign state almost three years ago and returned to Iran last year with weapons and ammunition and while he was armed with a suicide belt. He was tasked with coordination for terrorist attacks inside the country.

All the suspects present in the first court session were arrested on June 7-26, 2017, and they are accused of purchasing, carrying and keeping light, semi-heavy and heavy arms and conducting terrorist attack.

Follow Trend on Telegram. Only most interesting and important news </s> TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran executed eight men convicted over the 2017 Islamic State attack on parliament and the shrine of the Islamic Republic’s founding ayatollah, the bloodiest terror attack to strike Tehran in decades, authorities said Saturday.

The June 7, 2017 attack has so far been the only assault by the Sunni extremists inside of Shiite Iran, which has been deeply involved in the wars in Iraq and Syria where the militants once held vast territory. IS has since have been beaten back by Iranian-aided Shiite militias in Iraq, as well as by a U.S.-led coalition operating in both countries, though Iran has made other arrests involving the group in the time since.

The judiciary’s official Mizan news agency announced the executions Saturday morning, but did not say when or where they took place. The head of Tehran’s Justice Department, Gholamhossein Esmaili, told Iranian state television that authorities conducted the executions days earlier but chose not to immediately announce them, likely as a security measure.

Executions in Iran are carried out by hangings.

Mizan noted in its report that the executions came after the eight men had been tried and convicted in a trial that included both eyewitness testimony and video footage showing their involvement by providing the attackers support in the days leading up to the assault.

“These eight worked directly … in martyring and wounding a number of innocent compatriots,” Mizan said.

The news agencies on Saturday named those executed as Soleiman Mozafari, Esmail Sufi, Rahman Behrouz, Majed Mortezai, Sirous Azizi, Ayoub Esmaili, Khosro Ramezani and Osman Behrouz. Over a dozen others remain on trial over the attack.

While Iran is one of the world’s top enforcers of the death penalty, such mass executions are rare. In August 2016, human rights activists criticized Iran for carrying out the mass execution of 20 convicted Sunni militants from a group identified as Jihad and Tawhid after a six-year trial. In August 2007, Iran hanged seven men convicted of rape in Mashhad at the same time.

The June 2017 Islamic State attack killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 50. It saw gunmen carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles and explosives storm the parliament complex where a legislative session had been in progress, starting an hours-long siege.

Meanwhile, gunmen and suicide bombers also struck outside Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s mausoleum on Tehran’s southern outskirts. Khomeini led the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Western-backed shah to become Iran’s first supreme leader until his death in 1989.

The assault shocked Tehran, which largely has avoided militant attacks in the decades after the years-long tumult surrounding the Islamic Revolution. The image of a child being passed out of a window at parliament under the watch of armed security forces remains seared in the minds of many.

Iran’s security forces responded with heavy force. Authorities arrested suspected IS militants, including their wives. In August 2017, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said it detained 27 militants linked to the Islamic State group who planned to attack holy Shiite cities within the country.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard responded to the attack by launching six ballistic missiles into eastern Syria targeting IS militants. It marked the first time Iran had fired its missiles in anger since its 1980s war with Iraq.

That raised new concerns in the West about its ballistic missile program amid the unraveling of its nuclear deal with world powers. That deal is now in danger of collapse with America’s withdrawal from the accord. Economic problems, water scarcity and other woes meanwhile have led to protests in Iran.

Iran remains one of the world’s top executioners. It was second only to China in 2017 in the number of known executions carried out, conducting over 500 hangings, according to Amnesty International.

The IS executions come as controversy still swirls in Iran around the country’s mass executions of 1988 near the end of the Iran-Iraq War. Activists at the time said Iran executed as many as 5,000 people after sham trials of Communists, Kurdish separatists, political prisoners and members of an Iranian exile group known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.

Those executions represent one of the darkest moments of Iran’s post-revolution history and are still not recognized by its government.

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Iranian Intelligence Ministry releases the names and other information about the five attackers of the day before.