Gunmen attack Iran's parliament and Khomeini mausoleum

Armed men launched two attacks in Iran's capital on Wednesday morning, killing a guard at the parliament and wounding several people in the Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini in southern Tehran, state media reported.

Lawmaker Elias Hazrati said three assailants, one with a pistol and two with AK-47 assault rifles, raided parliament, according the state television website.

The interior of Iran's parliament building, where gunmen launched an attack this morning.Wikimedia Commons

ISNA news agency quoted a member of the parliament as saying that all the parliament doors were shut and one of the assailants was surrounded by the security forces.

Iran's IRIB news agency quoted an MP as saying there were a number of attackers at the parliament building, armed with AK-47 rifles.

'There were three attackers armed with two Kalashnikov rifles and one colt pistol,' MP Elyas Hazrati was quoted as saying.

In a separate incident, an armed man opened fire at the Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini and wounded a number of people, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

ISNA quoted an unnamed source saying that the attacker at the mausoleum had blown himself up.

The identity and the motivation of the assailant was still unclear, Tasnim said.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini launched the Islamic revolution in 1979.

Elections last month saw Iran's President Hassan Rouhani re-elected with a large majority. Rouhani is regarded as a reformist and succeeded in negotiating the nuclear deal that resulted in the lifting of international sanctions. However, he has struggled to get economy moving and there is widespread youth unemployment.

Additional reporting by Reuters.