Iran arrests senior Isis member and two others accused of planning Ramadan attack
- Mohammad Zaker, known as ‘Ramesh’, and the other two were arrested in Karaj, west of the capital Tehran, following clashes
- Islamic State, which harbours a virulent hatred for Iran’s dominant Shiite sect, claimed responsibility for two explosions in Iran in January
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.
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 January 3 in the southeastern city of Kerman.
US intelligence sources said Isis-K had carried out both the January 3 attacks in Iran and the March 22 shootings in Moscow.
In 2022, Islamic State took responsibility for an attack on a Shiite shrine in Iran that killed 15 people. Earlier attacks claimed by Islamic State include twin bombings in 2017 that targeted Iran’s parliament and the tomb of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.