Hezbollah condemns Iran terror attack as death toll rises to 16

The Lebanese terror group Hezbollah Thursday condemned the twin terror attacks in Tehran the day before, describing them as part of an “international, destructive plan” backed by various regional governments.

Hezbollah is seen as an Iranian proxy in Syria and Lebanon and has aligned itself with Tehran amid mounting regional tensions with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

Authorities raised the death toll in the two Islamic State-claimed attacks on Iran’s parliament and the tomb of its revolutionary leader to 16.

State television reported the increase, citing Ahmad Shojaei, the head of the country’s forensic center.

Shojaei told state TV that “three of the victims are women.” He did not elaborate.

Iran blamed the Wednesday attacks on Saudi Arabia, though no link has been established.

Hezbollah and Iran are locked in twin military conflicts in Iraq and Syria against IS jihadists and Gulf- and Western-backed local opposition forces.

Iranian authorities have said the assailants were Iranian nationals, adding they have arrested six suspects, including one woman, since the attack.

The five men who carried out the attacks were Iranians who joined the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria before returning last summer, the intelligence ministry said Thursday.

“The five known terrorists… after joining the Daesh (IS) terrorist group, left the country and participated in crimes carried out by this terrorist group in Mosul and Raqqa,” the ministry said in a statement.

The statement indicates only five people carried out Wednesday’s twin attacks, rather than the six originally reported.