TEHRAN (Tasnim) � Head of Iran's Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Saeed Ohadi announced on Friday that no Iranian national was among the victims of a triple suicide attack on a Shiite mausoleum near the Iraqi city of Samarra.





Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Ohadi strongly condemned the terrorist attack, saying that Daesh terrorist group (also known as ISIS or ISIL) launched the attack near the Mausoleum of Sayyid Muhammed bin Ali al-Hadi and killed a large number of pilgrims.

Fortunately, none of the pilgrims dispatched to Iraq by the Hajj and pilgrimage Organization was present at the site of the shrine when Daesh terrorists attacked there, he noted.

The Iranian official went on to say that all of the convoys of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization visit the holy sites in Iraq during daylight hours and are protected by the Arab country�s security forces.

Daesh claimed the triple suicide attack on the mausoleum, near Balad, about 93 kilometers (58 miles) north of Baghdad, on Thursday night, which killed at least 35 people and wounded 60 others.

A man detonated an explosive belt at the external gate of the mausoleum at around 11 pm, allowing several gunmen to storm the site and start shooting at worshippers on the occasion of the Eid al-Fitr festival, according to the security sources.

At least one gunmen blew himself up in the middle of the crowd while another was gunned down by the guard of the mausoleum before he could detonate his explosive belt.

The site also came under rocket fire during the attack that was claimed by Daesh. The terror group said in a statement the attack was carried out by three suicide bombers wearing explosive belts.

By Tasnim News Agency