IRAN — (AP) The United States is condemning what it calls “terrorist attacks” in the Iranian capital of Tehran.
At least 12 have been killed and 40 wounded in attacks on the parliament building and the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Assailants armed with Kalashnikov rifles stormed the parliament building Wednesday and one of the attackers blew himself up inside, where a session had been in progress. Another group of attackers, including a second suicide bomber, struck the shrine.
The Islamic State group claimed the attack, marking the first time it has taken responsibility for an assault in Iran. The Sunni extremist group is at war with Iran-backed forces in Syria and Iraq.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert says the U.S. is sending thoughts and prayers to the Iranian people following attacks that struck Iran’s parliament and the mausoleum of its modern founder. Nauert says the U.S. is expressing condolences to the victims and their families.
Nauert says that “the depravity of terrorism has no place in a peaceful, civilized world.”
Iran and the U.S. don’t maintain diplomatic relations and the Trump administration has emphasized the need to counter Iran’s influence.
Despite the U.S. condemnation of the attack, the Senate was considering a possible procedural vote Wednesday afternoon on a new set of Iranian sanctions. Some Democrats are pushing for the vote to be delayed out of consideration for what happened in Tehran.
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