Iran attack: Shiraz shine gun attack leaves at least four dead

At least four people have been killed and several others injured in a "terrorist" attack at a shrine in the Iranian city of Shiraz, state media reported on Sunday.

The Tasnim news agency said two gunmen attempted to enter the Shah Cheragh shrine and opened fire on visitors.

One of the attackers had been arrested while the other had escaped, it added.

Shah Cheragh was the scene of another attack in October, claimed by Islamic State (IS), when 13 people died.

No group has immediately claimed the latest attack.

"Four people have been killed so far following a terrorist attack by two armed men on the holy shrine," the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

The semi-official Fars news agency meanwhile said that the gunmen tried to enter the shrine from the Bab al-Mahdi door but were met with "resistance" from "protection forces".

Witnesses told Fars that one of the gunmen began to shoot indiscriminately after being confronted by security.

Tasnim, another semi-official news organisation, said that at least seven people were wounded and shops in the area had been closed. State TV said the shrine area had been cordoned off by security forces.

Pictures from Tasnim showed bullet holes in what appeared to be the barred windows at the entrance to the shrine, one of Iran's holiest sites.

The shrine includes the tombs of two sons of the seventh Shia Imam Musa al-Kadhim, who are also the brothers of the eighth Imam Ali al-Rida.

Iran last month executed two people alleged to have helped carry out the October attack. The main protagonist, identified as an Afghan national, was killed at the scene in the attack.

Three other defendants were sentenced to prison for up to 25 years for their membership of the Islamic State group.

IS has claimed previous attacks in Iran, including the deadly twin bombings in 2017 that targeted the country's parliament and the tomb of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.