Iran said Thursday (June 8th) that the five Iranians who killed 17 people in twin attacks in Tehran were "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) members who had been to its strongholds in Iraq and Syria, AFP reported.
The attacks on Wednesday at Tehran's parliament complex and the shrine of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini wounded more than 50 people and were the first claimed by ISIS in Iran.
"The five known terrorists... after joining the ISIS terrorist group, left the country and participated in crimes carried out by this terrorist group in Mosul and al-Raqa," the intelligence ministry said in a statement.
It suggested there were only five attackers rather than the six originally reported.
The ministry released their photographs and first names, and said they were part of a network that entered Iran in July-August 2016 under the leadership of "high-ranking ISIS commander" Abu Aisha intending to carry out "terrorist operations in religious cities".
Abu Aisha was killed and the network forced to flee the country, the statement said. It was not clear when the five men returned to Iran ahead of Wednesday's attacks.
