The Nobel peace laureate Tawakkol Karman has strongly condemned the terrorist attacks targeting the Iranian Parliament and shrine of late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini.

"I condemn in the strongest possible terms the terrorist acts targeting Iran’s Parliament and Khomeini’s shrine on Wednesday," Karman wrote on social media.

Gunmen using explosives stormed the Iranian parliament in Tehran and a key shrine on Wednesday, leaving 12 people dead and 42 injured.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for its first major attack in the Shiite-dominated country that has been relatively free of the kind of violence engulfing the region.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have indicated that the attacks were linked to Saudi Arabia; they never mentioned the country by name, but the implication was clear. 

It is clear Saudi Arabia supports terrorist groups but it is too soon to say whether it was involved in the Parliament and mausoleum strikes, Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi was quoted as saying by IRNA.