Two dead in attack on Iran Shiite worshippers

State media reports shooting in Khuzestan province which borders Iraq and has a large ethnic Arab community, some of it Sunni

By AFP 17 October 2015, 10:39 am

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Illustrative photo of Shiite Muslim worshippers gathering at the holy shrine of Imam Abbas during the annual festival of Shabaniyah, in Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 24 (AP/Hadi Mizban)

Two Iranians were killed late Friday in a shooting attack on Shiite worshippers marking Ashura, one of the holiest commemorations of the faith, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Two people were also wounded in the attack in the town of Dezful in Khuzestan province, the news agency said.

The southwestern province, which borders Iraq, has a significant ethnic Arab community, some of it Sunni, and has seen a number of armed attacks in recent years, according to Iranian media.

The assailants opened fire on the Shiite place of worship from a car carrying no licence plates.

“It’s not still clear whether the attack was a terrorist one,” provincial police official Colonel Rahman Mousavi said.

“Investigators are reviewing the matter and will announce the results as soon as possible.”

Ashura commemorations — which climax on October 24 — mark the killing of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, by the army of the Caliph Yazid in 680 AD. That event lies at the heart of Islam’s divide into Shiite and Sunni sects.

In recent years, there has been a spate of attacks on Ashura celebrations around the region by Sunni extremist groups which regard Shiites as heretics.

On Friday evening, five people were killed in a shooting attack claimed by militants linked to the Islamic State group against Shiite worshippers in Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia, Iran’s regional rival.