Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi blamed the nationwide protest for the death of 15 Shia Muslims during an attack on a mosque during worship hours.

The attack happened on the evening of October 26. According to state-run media, the attacker open-fired on worshipers at the Shah Cheragh Shrine in Shiraz. More than 40 victims were injured, while 15 were confirmed dead.

این فیلم هم شراگیم کارگردانی کرده ؟! دست بردار ! سرت رو مثل کبک کردی تو برف و نمیخای ببینی ؟ کدوم تروریست احمقی بدون هیچ پوشش امنیتی سلاح به اون بزرگی دست میگیره میره عملیات ؟ شاهچراغ گیت نداره ؟ تو صحن رفتن آزاد شده که یه تروریست اینطوری بره تو ؟! pic.twitter.com/QSRlrL2ASM

— Mostafa (@MhhMoi1984) October 27, 2022

The state-run media in Iran also reported that two attackers were caught while a third is at large.

Reuters reported that the Islamic State (IS) allegedly claimed responsibility for the attack. According to Reuter’s reporting, Iranian officials blamed hardline Sunni Muslim groups like IS for attacking Iran, a country run by a Shia Muslim regime.

Ahmad Vahidi, Iran’s Interior Minister, insisted that the protests against the regime paved “the ground for the Shiraz attack.”

Protests have erupted and spread across Iran after Masa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman murdered by Iranian Morality Police after, being arrested for not wearing a proper hijab.

According to Raisi, the riots empowered IS to carry out the attack. “The enemy wants the riots to pave the way for terrorist attacks,” he declared. “They go to a holy shrine... and open fire at innocent worshipers,” he added.

But many in Iran, already familiar with the regime’s brutal practice, are not buying Khamenei and Raisi’s claims.

According to Iran International, many anti-regime critics took to social media to declare their suspicions. One Twitter user argued that IS terrorist attacks almost always involve an explosive belt. “Why don’t security forces consider the possibility of an explosive belt when arresting the attackers,” he wondered.

Another tweet questioned how the attacker entered the mosque quickly while carrying an assault rifle. “Which stupid terrorist takes such a big weapon with him for an operation without any security cover,” the tweet asked.

Armin Navabi, the founder of Atheist Republic, also laid out the discrepancies in Iran’s claims about the attack. When a viewer on the Secular Jihadist asked if he was wrong to be suspicious of the attacker, Navabi said the viewer was right to be suspicious.

Navabi then shared footage of the attacker entering the shrine. “This seems like a false-flag operation,” Navabi explained. He also highlighted how lousy the attacker was in reloading the rifle’s magazine.

“He sucks at changing the magazine; at one point, it takes him too long to change the magazine,” Navabi said.

The most considerable disparity Navabi showed was the poster released by the Iranian regime, saying “condolences to the people who died.”

“The problem is that it (the poster) was posted [by the regime] three minutes after the attack started,” he said. The attack lasted for approximately 20 minutes.

“Before the attack was finished!” Navabi exclaimed.

Navabi also highlighted that the Iranian regime only took one hour after the attack to declare that the attacker was ISIS. “Like there’s usually an investigation and everything, but apparently, after one hour, they (the regime) knew everything.”

What adds to the suspicion is the timing of the attack, which happened 40 days after Amini’s murder. “In Islam and orthodox Christianity, the 40 days after someone’s death is the day you remember the person’s death,” Navabi explained.