GUNMEN and suicide bombers killed 12 people in attacks on the Iranian parliament and the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini yesterday.

Isis quickly claimed responsibility for the twin attacks in Tehran, but the communist Tudeh Party attributed responsibility to the US, Saudi Arabia and their regional allies.

Gunmen dressed as women stormed the parliament building in the morning as MPs were in session. One detonated a suicide vest and three others were shot dead by security forces after a siege lasting several hours.

Witnesses said that the attackers had been shooting from the fourth floor of the parliament building at people in the streets below.

Shortly afterwards another group of militants attacked the large mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, just outside the capital. A security guard was killed, one attacker was shot dead and a suicide bomber blew himself up.

Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani called the attack a cowardly act. “Iran is an active and effective pillar in the fight against terrorists and they want to damage it,” he said. Iran’s allies Syria and Russia and neighbouring Pakistan also condemned the atrocity.

Tudeh Party of Iran international secretary Navid Shomali joined the condemnation, pointing out that the attack came just two weeks after US President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia for a 50-nation Arab summit.

“The provocative and dangerous statements by the US president and his Saudi hosts in singling out Iran as the source of terrorism in the region could not but give the green light to the dark forces being trained and prepared in advance of such actions,” he told the Morning Star.

Iran is a double target for Isis sectarian terror: its population is predominantly Shi’ite Muslim and it is aiding Syria and Iraq in the war against the death cult, Mr Shomali said.

He said this week’s divisions within the Gulf Co-operation Council — with Saudi Arabia leading a blockade of Qatar for alleged supprt of Iran — were unsurprising.

“Not all members are content with the decisions of the Saudi dictatorial rulers in supporting the US new plan for the Middle East,” he said.