On Thursday, the Intelligence Ministry released the pictures and first names of perpetrators of the attacks, identifying the five gunmen as Qayyoum, Abu Jihad, Ramin, Serias, and Fereydoun, without announcing their surnames.
Nelly Lahoud, an expert on extremism at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Bahrain, said IS leaders may be looking to rally supporters through the attacks in Iran as they lose ground in Syria and Iraq. Iran has also battled Saudi-backed Sunni groups in both countries.
ISIS, which adheres to a puritanical strain of Sunni Islam, considers Shias heretics and has carried out numerous attacks against Shia civilians, in Iraq in particular.
Although Iran is a Shiite majority country, it is most likely the Iranian Islamic State militants were Sunni.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is headed for Saudi Arabia on Monday on a day-long visit in the backdrop of a deepening diplomatic rift in the Middle East, the media reported.
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"These fire-crackers that happened today will not have the slightest effect on the will of the people", Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said after the twin attacks, which also left dozens injured. The ministry released their photographs and first names, and said they were part of a network that entered Iran between July and August a year ago under the leadership of "high-ranking (ISIS) commander" Abu Aisha intending to carry out "terrorist operations in religious cities".
The militant group had earlier released footage of the attackers from inside the building, also via Amaq - a rare claim of responsibility while an assault was still going on.
Iranian authorities said five of the attackers were Iranian nationals recruited by IS, while Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps blamed the assault on regional rival Saudi Arabia and has threatened revenge.
"We extend our deep condolences and sympathy to the victims and their families, and the Iranian people", Ms Bishop said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Iran during this hard time". NPR's Michele Kelemen notes that the State Department condemned the attack and wrote that "the depravity of terrorism has no place in a peaceful, civilized world". They had returned to Iran in August 2016 for a terrorist operation under the command of Abu Aysheh, a ranking commander of Daesh, with the goal of carrying out attacks in Iran's religious cities, the statement said.
In the midst of the unfolding attacks, the intelligence ministry said a third team had been stopped before the attacks started, but no further details have since been given.
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