Iran arrests senior ISIS member

TEHRAN: Iranian police on Saturday announced the arrest of a senior operative of Islamic State with two other members of the group accused of planning a suicide attack during next week’s celebrations marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The police said Mohammad Zaker, known as “Ramesh”, and the other two were arrested in Karaj, west of the capital Tehran, following clashes, according to Iranian media. Eight others accompanying the men were also detained, they said.

Islamic State, which harbours a virulent hatred for Iran’s dominant Shi’ite sect, claimed responsibility for two explosions in Iran in January that killed nearly 100 people and wounded scores at a memorial marking the fourth anniversary of the assassination of top commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq in 2020 by a U.S. drone.

Iran arrested 35 people in January, including a commander of Islamic State’s Afghanistan-based branch ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), who it said were linked to the twin bombings on Jan. 3 in the southeastern city of Kerman.