The Islamic State terrorist organization claimed responsibility Thursday evening for the combined attack in Iran, in which dozens of people were killed in the heart of Kerman Province in the south of the country. This is despite accusations leveled by senior Iranian officials in Israel and the United States.
Explosion near Soleimani's grave, on the anniversary of his death // Iranian networks
The terrorist attack took place just before the annual memorial ceremony for the assassination of Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani. Several police officers were also killed among the victims. Four years after his assassination by a U.S. drone in Iraq, thousands of people marched toward the cemetery where Soleimani is buried, somewhere in the south of the country.
Two powerful explosions
This was the fourth anniversary of a man who for years operated militias and terrorist cells in various locations in the Middle East and acquired quite a few enemies. Apart from the United States and Israel, many in the Arab world, especially in the Syrian opposition to the Assad regime, see him as responsible for the deaths of countless people.
Around noon yesterday, two powerful explosions shook the street one after the other – about ten minutes apart. Within a short time, crowds of people began to flee in all directions, while the bodies of the dead lay on the side of the street. Some of those present took refuge in the nearby woods, fearing another attack.
Qassem Soleimani. Dozens killed in two mysterious explosions at a ceremony at the cemetery on the fourth anniversary of his death, Photo: AP
According to the Iranian authorities, terrorist operatives placed two IEDs in advance, several hundred meters apart, and activated them by remote control. Iran's Tasnim News Agency reported that the IEDs were hidden in two suitcases placed near the cemetery.
According to a report in Bloomberg News Agency, the United States believes that Israel is not involved in the attack in Kerman Province. Naturally, and in view of the large number of victims, it can be assumed that this is not an act of elimination of a specific entity.
According to US officials, the main suspects in the attack were the terrorist organization ISIS or another organization affiliated with it. Others raised the possibility that Iranian rebels were behind the deadly attack. Kerman Province, for example, is close to the Baluchestan area, where the Balochs, a Sunni Muslim minority hostile to the Shiite and extremist ayatollahs' regime, are also living under constant repression.
مباشر من #العربية | وكالة مهر الإيرانية: انفجار قرب ضريح مدفن سليماني في محافظة كرمان وجاري التحقق من طبيعته https://t.co/xUP4Y068v4
— العربية (@AlArabiya) January 3, 2024
As expected, there were elements in Iran who blamed Israel. The British website The Guardian quoted a local Iranian representative from Kerman Province as accusing "agents of Israel" of responsibility for the attack, and called for a response in Tel Aviv or Haifa.
Subsequently, a senior IRGC official claimed that Israel and the United States "secured" the event and allowed it to happen. In both cases, however, Iran did not directly blame. Moreover, other sources in Iran admitted that although there is preliminary information about the perpetrators, the circumstances of the attack are still under investigation.
Finally, last night Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi himself addressed the attack and declared that revenge against the perpetrators was inevitable. The country's interior minister also promised that a response would come.
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