Iran bomb attack foiled after Shiraz shooting, Revolutionary Guards say

Shooting that killed 15 worshippers killed at a shrine on Wednesday claimed by ISIS

The Shah Cheragh Shrine after the attack in Shiraz, Iran, on October 26. Reuters

Iran's Revolutionary Guards foiled a bomb attack in Shiraz two days after a deadly shooting at a shrine in the city, the guards' news agency, Sepah News, reported on Friday.

Fifteen worshippers were killed in the Shiraz shooting at the city's Shah Cheragh shrine on Wednesday. The attack was later claimed by ISIS.

“A bombing in Mo'ali Abad Street in Shiraz was detected and foiled by the Revolutionary Guards intelligence,” Sepah said.

The Iranian government has organised nationwide demonstrations against the shooting after Friday prayers.

“We will take revenge for the blood of the martyrs of Shiraz,” said Tehran Friday prayer leader Haj Ali Akbari.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed on Thursday to retaliate against those threatening the country's security.

Officials said they had arrested a gunman who carried out the attack at the shrine, which took place amid widespread anti-government protests.

Iran's clerical rulers have faced nationwide demonstrations since the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, on September 16.

Rights groups have said at least 250 protesters have been killed and thousands arrested.

On Friday, the UN human rights office said authorities were refusing to release some of the bodies of those killed in the protests.

It also voiced concern about Iran's treatment of detained protesters.

“We've seen a lot of ill treatment … but also harassment of the families of protesters,” Ravina Shamdasani, of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in Geneva, citing several sources.

“Of particular concern is information that authorities have been moving injured protesters from hospitals to detention facilities and refusing to release the bodies of those killed to their families.”

Ms Shamdasani said authorities were in some cases placing conditions on the release of bodies, asking families not to hold a funeral or speak to the media.

Some protesters in detention were also being denied medical treatment, she said.

Authorities dismissed two senior police officials in the south-east city of Zahedan, state media said on Friday, four weeks after clashes that left dozens dead, including military officers.

The violence in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province which borders Pakistan, erupted on September 30 with what Iranian officials described as attacks on security forces.

The Sistan-Baluchistan security council said on Friday it had concluded an investigation into the unrest at the request of Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, conceding "negligence" by officers and the deaths of "innocent" civilians.

In a statement published by state news agency Irna, the council announced the dismissal of Zahedan's police chief as well as the head of a police station.