Islamic State Claims Deadly Attacks on Iranian Parliament and Khomeini Shrine (VIDEO)

Now this is some kind of development!

At the Guardian U.K., "Iran: 12 dead as Islamic State claims attacks on parliament and shrine":

At least 12 people have been killed and dozens more injured in Tehran after gunmen and suicide bombers attacked the Iranian parliament and the mausoleum of the founder of the Islamic Republic.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks on the highly symbolic sites, publishing a brief video that purported to show the assailants inside the parliament. If an Isis role is confirmed, this would be the first attack conducted by the terror group inside Iran.

The parliament assault began when four gunmen armed with rifles burst into the building complex. One of the attackers reportedly blew himself up inside as police surrounded the building.

Gunfire could be heard from outside as police helicopters circled overhead, entrance and exit gates were closed, and mobile phone lines from inside were disconnected.

“I was inside the parliament when shooting happened. Everyone was shocked and scared. I saw two men shooting randomly,” one journalist at the scene, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

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ran’s leaders sought to play down the attacks, with neither President Hassan Rouhani nor supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei making a statement by early evening.

Attacks are highly rare in Tehran and other major Iranian cities, although a Sunni militant group named Jundallah and its splinter group, Ansar al Furqan, have been waging a deadly insurgency, mostly in more remote areas, for almost a decade.

Isis, which adheres to a puritanical strain of Sunni Islam, considers Shias heretics and has carried out numerous attacks against Shia civilians, in Iraq in particular. But this assault, which appeared to have a higher degree of coordination and planning than recent Isis-claimed attacks in Europe, would be a significant escalation...