TEHRAN -- Iranians from all walks of life took to the streets across the country on Friday to sound their condemnation of a terrorist attack on the Shah Cheragh shrine, a highly revered shrine in the southern city of Shiraz.
Protesters rallied across Iran, including in the capital Tehran, following Friday prayers. They chanted slogans and held banners calling for bringing those responsible to justice.
Fifteen pilgrims, including a woman and two children, lost their lives and at least 40 others were wounded after a heavily-armed terrorist attacked the popular shrine in Iran’s southwestern province. The incident took place at around 5:45 p.m. local time (1415 GMT) on Wednesday just before the evening prayers.
The police commander of Fars province said the attacker opened indiscriminate fire at pilgrims inside the shrine and was himself wounded and arrested by security officials.
Nour News, which is affiliated with Iran’s top security body, said the terrorist who carried out the attack was a foreign national. The Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility shortly after the attack.
CCTV footage released by local authorities showed the terrorist making his way inside the shrine after hiding an assault rifle in a bag and opening fire at worshipers who tried to flee and hide in corridors.
Condemnations poured in from both inside and outside the Islamic Republic of Iran following the incident.

Bombing Thwarted

Iranian security forces defused a bomb in Shiraz that was set to detonate concurrent with a deadly terrorist attack in the southwestern Iranian city on Wednesday, the city’s governor Lotfollah Sheibani said on Friday.
“The person who intended to plant a bomb in this street had placed explosives with high destructive power in a bag and sought to detonate it in one of the busiest areas of Shiraz, on Ma’ali Abad Street,” Sheibani said, adding that the plot was foiled by the country’s security forces.
The forces at the scene, he said, arrested the individual and defused the bomb as soon as they found out about the plot.
If the blast had happened, a large number of people would have been killed and injured, he added.
The arrested individual is in police custody for further investigation and interrogation, said the governor, adding that their identity will be announced later.
Mo’ali Abad street in Shiraz has been one of the centers for recent violent unrest which erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini.
Iranians have held protests over the death of Amini, a young Iranian who died at a hospital in Tehran on September 16, three days after she collapsed in police custody.
Iran mourned her death, but some extremist elements derailed the protests and incited violence against security forces. Western-backed media outlets have also encouraged violence.
An official report published earlier this month said Amini’s death had been caused by an illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.