Iran publicly hangs two men convicted of Shiraz shrine attack

ISIS claimed the shooting attack carried out by a lone gunman at the Shah Cheragh shrine on October 26

Prayers at the Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz, Iran, on October 28, 2022, after a shooting killed 13 people. Reuters

Iran executed two men on Saturday convicted for their part in an attack on a Shiite shrine that killed at least 13 people in October and was claimed by ISIS, Iranian state media reported.

The men were hanged at dawn in the southern city of Shiraz, according to the Irna news agency.

The men had said during their trial that they had been in contact with the ISIS in neighbouring Afghanistan and helped to organise the attack on the Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz on October 26, according to the Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency.

Mizan identified them as Ramez Rashidi and Mohammad Ramani and said their executions were carried out after the Supreme Court upheld their death sentences.

Three other men accused in the case were jailed for 25, 15 and five years, the news agency said.

CCTV footage broadcast on state TV showed an attacker entering the shrine after hiding an assault rifle in a bag and shooting at worshippers as they tried to flee and hide in corridors.

The gunman, identified as a citizen of Tajikistan, later died in a hospital from injuries sustained during the attack. Officials initially said 15 had been killed in the attack, but later revised the figure to 13.

ISIS has claimed other attacks in Iran, including two deadly bombings in 2017 that targeted parliament and the tomb of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.