An attack on a Shiite Muslim shrine in Iran's central city of Shiraz killed at least four people on Sunday, state media reported, adding that one person had been arrested.
Read more:
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on the Shah Cheragh shrine, which state news agency IRNA said had been carried out by "terrorists."
The semi-official Tasnim news agency said at least seven people were wounded and shops in the area had been closed. State TV said the shrine area had been cordoned off by security forces.
The governor of Fars province, where Shiraz is the provincial capital, told Iranian state television that a single gunman carried out the attack and later was detained by security forces. Mohammad Hadi Imanieh did not offer any motive for the attack in his brief comments.
Other reports said that there were at least two gunmen, who were unable to enter the mosque and therefore opened fire randomly at the entrance, injuring several passers-by.
2 View gallery
Damage from a terrorist shooting attack on the Shah Cheragh shrine in the city of Shiraz, Iran
Shah Cheragh is one of Iran’s top five Shiite shrines. It draws pilgrims to Shiraz, which is some 675 kilometers (420 miles) south of Iran’s capital, Tehran.
The attack Sunday night comes after an October 2022 attack on the same shrine killed 13 people and wounded dozens of others. The Islamic State group claimed the assault, which Iran said had been carried out by a man from Tajikistan, who later died in a hospital after succumbing to injuries he suffered while being detained by security forces.
Islamic State has claimed previous attacks in Iran, including the deadly twin bombings in 2017 that targeted Iran's parliament and the tomb of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.