Iran sentences three to death over shrine attack

Tehran: Iran has sentenced three people to death and jailed several others convicted over their roles in deadly attacks on a Shiite shrine in the southern city of Shiraz, the judiciary said Sunday.

The verdicts stem from two shootings -- in October 2022 and August 2023 -- that killed 15 people at the Shah Cheragh mausoleum in the capital of Fars province. The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.

“Three of these defendants were sentenced to death for aiding and abetting in ‘corruption on earth’ following proceedings” at Shiraz Revolutionary Court, Fars chief justice Sadrollah Rajaei-Nasab said, quoted by the judiciary’s Mizan Online website.

They were also sentenced to 25 years in prison for “aiding and abetting in moharebeh”, he added, referring to the capital offence of enmity against God.

Two other alleged members of the jihadist IS were sentenced to 15 years and 10 years in prison “based on their level of cooperation and influence in the Shah Cheragh terrorist events”.

Two women were each sentenced to five years, but “their sentences will be served under Islamic leniency, monitored by electronic ankle bracelets, and within a one-kilometre radius of their homes”.

Rajaei-Nasab said other parts of the case, including charges related to weapons trafficking, remained under review, and that some verdicts had been appealed to Iran’s Supreme Court.

In July 2023, Iran executed two men in public over the first attack on the shrine.

Following the second attack, the judiciary said in August 2023 that security forces had arrested nine people -- all foreigners -- and later sentenced a Tajik IS member to death the following month.