Iran condemns suicide bombing at Saudi Shiite mosque

Regional Shiite power Iran on Friday denounced a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Saudi Arabia that killed and wounded several people.

Official IRNA news agency quoted foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham as “vigorously condemning” the attack, which has been claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.

“The fight against terrorist and extremist groups… must be a priority for all countries,” she said, and called on Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia to find and punish those responsible for the attack.

An Islamic State group suicide bomber attacked a Shiite mosque in Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia on Friday, killing and wounding several people in an assault that threatens to fan sectarian tensions.

The bomber struck during the main weekly prayers in Eastern Province, where assailants linked to the Sunni extremist IS killed seven members of the minority Shiite community in November.

The interior ministry said a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at the mosque in Kudeih, in the Shiite-majority city of Qatif, the official SPA news agency reported.

“An individual detonated a bomb he was wearing under his clothes during Friday prayers at Ali Ibn Abi Taleb mosque in Kudeih in Qatif,” the ministry spokesman said in a statement.

He said several people were killed and wounded, without giving a breakdown.

Shiite activists and witnesses gave conflicting tolls, with one saying four worshippers were killed and others speaking of 22 dead.

IS said it was behind the attack, the first time the group has official claimed an attack in Saudi Arabia, and vowed “dark days ahead” for Shiites until militants “chase them from the Arabian Peninsula”.

IS considers Shiites as heretics.

A statement published online said “soldiers of the Caliphate” were behind the attack by Abu Amer al-Najdi who “detonated an explosives belt” in the mosque.

The United States condemned the bombing, but White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it was not immediately able to confirm it was the work of IS.