Iranian authorities say ISIL has been hatching "plots and conspiracies" against it from its de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria.
- Huge domestic bombing campaign foiled – Iran
- Planned for Ramadan
- ISIL is “Iran’s number one enemy”
What is happening?
Iran says it has foiled “one of the largest jihadist terrorist plots ever planned on its territory.”
Quoted by the semi-official Isna press agency, National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani is quoted as saying that Iranian security forces have arrested members of a network that was planning suicide bombings in Tehran during Ramadan.
He described it as a “major plot by Sunni Muslim militants against the Shi’ite Islamic Republic” and described ISIL as “Iran’s number one enemy”.
Is security a problem in Iran?
Not for the general public, analysts say.
Large cities are generally safe from attacks from organisations like ISIL.
However, the country’s security forces are often targeted by jihadist militants or Kurdish fighters near the borders with Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Three soldiers and one police officer have died in border attacks over the last two weeks.
22 militants have been killed.
Ultraradical Sunni organisations like ISIL consider the Shi’ite Muslim community as heretics.
Iran is a predominantly Shi’ite country.
What they are saying
Iran foils ‘terrorist' bomb plots across country; several arrests made, large quantities of explosives seized https://t.co/aNBTLuKz2O
— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) June 20, 2016
“A series of bomb attacks planned for the coming weeks in several places in the country, mainly in Tehran, has been foiled,” – Security Ministry statement.