TEHRAN – The Iranian intelligence forces have thwarted a plot to carry out a string of terrorist bombing attacks in Tehran, arresting dozens of elements linked with the Daesh terrorist group.
The Iranian Intelligence Ministry announced in a statement on Sunday that its forces have foiled a ferocious plot to carry out 30 simultaneous bombing attacks on populous areas of capital Tehran and have arrested all terrorists involved in the plot.
“The explosions were planned with the aim of breaking the country’s security authority, creating an unstable image of the country, sowing despair and fear in the society, and instigating chaos and protests exactly during the anniversary of last year’s riots,” it said.
The ministry noted that its forces have conducted a series of simultaneous operations during the recent days in the provinces of Tehran, Alborz and West Azarbaijan, raided the houses of terrorist teams, and arrested 28 members of the terrorist network.
The arrested elements are affiliated with the Daesh terrorist group, the statement added, saying a number of the arrestees used to fight alongside terrorists in Syria or had been present in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Although the elements arrested in Iran belong to Daesh terrorist group, the design of their plot and their behavioral pattern are much more complicated in technical terms than those of the conventional Takfiri currents and significantly conform to the patterns and mechanisms of the Zionist regime, it added.
The statement also said weapons and equipment have been confiscated from the terrorists in the recent operations, including a huge amount of explosives, bombs, large amount of explosive device materials, a package of 100 explosive primers, electronic devices used in time bombs, 17 American handguns and bullets, diverse smart and satellite telecommunication devices, military outfits, suicide vests, modems used in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and foreign currencies.
The ministry noted that during one of the operations at a house, the terrorists tried to carry out a suicide attack which could have harmed people in the nearby houses, but the intelligence forces acted bravely and swiftly and prevented the suicide explosion.

Unfortunately, two Iranian intelligence forces were injured in the operation, it concluded.
Footage released by state media showed how the individuals were shriveled by drones before their locations were stormed and they were arrested by intelligence operatives. Suspects were also shown digging up parts to make explosives that they had buried to keep hidden.
The clips showed handguns and explosive vests that were confiscated and a group of bound and blindfolded suspects.
Daesh claimed responsibility for an attack on the holy Shah Cheragh shrine in October that killed 13 people and injured dozens.
The shrine in the southern city of Shiraz came under a second gun attack in less than a year in August, which killed two people.
Iran blamed the second attack on Daesh as well and said a number of foreign nationals were arrested in connection with the operation.
For carrying out last year’s attack, two men from neighboring Afghanistan were convicted of being Daesh agents and publicly executed in early June.
For the second attack, the shooter, identified as Rahmatollah Nowruzof from Tajikistan, was given two death sentences, Iran’s judiciary said.
Two other suspects, who were not identified, were sentenced to five years in prison and expulsion from the Islamic republic.