Iran publicly executes two over shrine attack

Iran hanged two Afghan men in public on Saturday who were accused of playing a role in an attack on a shrine in October where 15 people died and 20 were wounded.

Mohammad Ramez Rashidi and Naeem Hashem Ghetali were hanged in a street near the Shahcheragh Shiite shrine and mausoleum in the southern city of Shiraz early in the morning. Iran's official news agency IRNA said they were hanged before dawn with “hundreds of the families of the martyrs” and other citizens of Shiraz witnessing the executions.

The attack on Shahcheragh shrine took place October 26 last year when anti-regime protests were raging on in Iran. This led to speculations and accusations that the attack was staged by the government to divert attention from the protests and also justify a crackdown.

However, in a strange twist, the Islamic State group took responsibility for the attack, which fit the government narrative of Iran being under attack by extremists.