Iran blames ISIL for shrine attack, arrests foreign nationals

Iran has blamed the ISIL (ISIS) armed group for the second attack in less than a year on a major shrine in southern Shiraz and arrested a group of foreign nationals for the assault.

“The motivation of this Daeshi [ISIL-affliated] individual was to take revenge for the executions of the two terrorists of the previous incident,” said the governor of the province of Fars, where the shooting occurred.

Iranian state-linked media also pointed out that ISIS-K, the Khorasan province affiliate of the Islamic State, had last month appeared to threaten Iran for the execution of two of its operatives.

Speaking on Monday, Ramezan Sharif, the spokesperson of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said: “The goals of Daesh [ISIL] and other terrorists against the national interests and people of Iran are intertwined,” and vowed that “we will give a decisive response to the terrorists”.

Read more: Al Jazeera