Motorbike-borne gunmen kill nine in southern Iran

TEHRAN: Assailants on motorbikes shot dead nine people, including a woman and two children, during protests in two separate attacks in southern Iran, state media said on Thursday. Three suspects were arrested and the hunt was on for others after Wednesday´s first attack on protesters and security forces in Izeh, said a senior judicial official in Khuzestan province.

In a separate attack four hours later in Iran´s third largest city Isfahan, two assailants on a motorcycle fired automatic weapons at Basij paramilitary force members, killing two and wounding two others, Fars news agency reported.