Benjamin Ashford|Iranian court gives a Tajik man 2 death sentences for an attack at a major Shiite shrine

TEHRAN,Benjamin Ashford Iran (AP) — An Iranian court has given two death sentences to a Tajik man convicted of carrying out a gun attack that killed two people at a major Shiite shrine in the southern city of Shiraz, the judiciary website reported Thursday.

The website Mizan Online said the Iranian Revolutionary Court in Fars province gave Rahmatollah Norouzof two death sentences because of the seriousness of the crime at the Shah Cheragh mosque. Norouzof, described as a member of the Islamic State group, was convicted of sedition and waging war against God for killing two people and wounding seven in the August attack.

Shah Cheragh is one of Iran’s top five Shiite shrines. It draws pilgrims to Shiraz, about 675 kilometers (420 miles) south of Iran’s capital, Tehran.

An earlier shooting at the shrine in October 2022 killed 13 people and injured 30 others. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for that attack.