A big scare this morning in Teheran, where some kamikazes blew themselves up in Parliament and at Khomeini Mausoleum: at least 12 people died, but the count could increases, and 39 people were injured. A commando broke into Parliament, where the MPs were holding a meeting: they took some hostages and shortly afterwards one of them blew himself up inside the building. The attack ended over four hours later, with a police raid and the killing of four terrorists. Almost at the same time, another attack took place at Imam Khomeini Mausoleum, south of the capital, where a group of armed people fired at the crowd of pilgrims, and one of them blew himself up during the raid. According to Al Arabiya, Isis has already claimed the double attack. An explosion was then heard in Khomeini Mausoleum subway: this was written by the Iranian news agency Fars. The subway is a stone’s throw from the Mausoleum, and some media think it might be the third attack.

“I think it is too early for considerations, because we are waiting for the authorities to make their statements, and they still have to see what is happening. The figures are still uncertain. There’s lots of tension, 39 people injured in the hospitals and – for the moment – 12 people dead”, says one of our sources from Teheran that we called by phone. “When we went around – our source tells – we saw policemen, firemen, ambulances. The Khomeini Mausoleum is in the outskirts, several kilometres away, closer to the airport, while Parliament is in the north. In downtown Teheran, where the embassies are located, the situation is fairly quiet and under control”.

Our source asks us to be cautious, to abstain from rushed “interpretations”: “We are putting several details together to have a non-emotional picture, to stick to facts”. Such details include “Isis’s claim and the statement made yesterday by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that Iran must be punished for supporting terrorism … and, as luck would have it, something happened today”. “We must find out, for example – he goes on –, whether today’s attacks may have to do with Qatar’s approaching Iran, the harshening of relationships between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Iran’s involvement in Syria, the emulation of what happened in Europe and therefore the will to hit this Middle Eastern power that is Iran too, now”. “Tomorrow – he says – we will have more information, especially when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs gives an official answer, so will, I think, the Supreme Guide. However, I think they are looking to Saudi Arabia”. A possible reason, he repeats at the end, “could be Qatar’s approaching Iran, this part of Shia; there are also talks about Sunni Isis fighting against Shia Islam”.