15 dead, 40 injured as gunmen attack major Shiite holy site in Iran's Shiraz

Gunmen attacked a major Shiite holy site in Iran on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and injuring 40 others. The attack came after protestors elsewhere in Iran marked a symbolic 40 days since a woman's death in custody ignited the biggest anti-government movement in over a decade.

ISIL (ISIS) took responsibility for the brutal attack in a statement on their telegram channel. The attackers targeted the Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz at around 5:45 pm (local time). 

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Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi vowed to respond to the attack and stated that it will not go unanswered. "This crime will definitely not go unanswered, and the security and law enforcement forces will teach a lesson to those who designed and carried out the attack," Al Arabiya reported quoting Raisi as saying.

According to local media, the attack was initiated by three gunmen, out of which two have been caught and one is still on the run. However, the police chief as well as the chief justice of Fars province refuted any such claims and said there was only one attacker, adding that he was being interrogated.

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The Wednesday attack comes as the unrest in Iran continues unabated as anti-government protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody have only surged in Iran since September 16.

Initial public expressions of anger at Amini's death and Iran's decades-old mandatory public headscarf policy for women quickly evolved into Iranian protesters calling for more freedoms and the death of Iran`s Islamist rulers. 

(With ANI inputs)