Iran’s judiciary issues death sentences for three individuals and jailed several others involved in deadly Islamic State-claimed attacks on the Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz.
The Iranian judiciary announced Sunday that three individuals have been sentenced to death, with several others receiving prison terms, in connection with the deadly terrorist attacks on the revered Shah Cheragh mausoleum in Shiraz, AFP reported.
The pronouncements stem from two separate shooting incidents in October 2022 and August 2023, which collectively claimed the lives of 15 people at the prominent Shiite shrine in the capital of Fars province. Both brutal assaults were claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS) group.
Fars chief justice Sadrollah Rajaei-Nasab, as quoted by the judiciary’s Mizan Online website, confirmed the severe penalties. “Three of these defendants were sentenced to death for aiding and abetting in ‘corruption on earth’ following proceedings” at the Shiraz Revolutionary Court. In addition to the capital punishment, these individuals were also handed 25-year prison sentences for “aiding and abetting in moharebeh,” a grave offense in Iranian jurisprudence signifying enmity against God.
Further convictions were issued against other alleged members of the jihadist ISIS. Two individuals were sentenced to 15 years and 10 years in prison respectively, with their terms “based on their level of cooperation and influence in the Shah Cheragh terrorist events.”
In a notable aspect of the verdicts, two women implicated in the case each received five-year prison sentences. However, their sentences are slated to be “served under Islamic leniency, monitored by electronic ankle bracelets, and within a one-kilometre radius of their homes,” according to Rajaei-Nasab.
These latest sentences follow previous judicial actions concerning the shrine attacks. In July 2023, Iran publicly executed two men for their roles in the initial attack on the Shah Cheragh shrine. Following the second assault in August 2023, the judiciary confirmed that security forces had apprehended nine individuals, all of whom were foreign nationals. Subsequently, a Tajik ISIS member was sentenced to death the following month in connection with that incident.
