Following two explosions in the Iranian city of Kerman, 103 people have been reported dead and 188 injured. The explosions occurred during a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of the martyrdom of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the United States on January 3, 2020. The death toll is expected to rise as ambulances transport the wounded to hospitals.
It is unclear who committed the attacks, and no groups or individuals have stepped forward to claim responsibility.
Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei issued a statement following the attacks, expressing sympathy with the victims of the attacks and stating that the perpetrators will receive a “hard response.”
Iran’s Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei blamed the attacks on terrorists who harbor grudges against Soleimani, who spearheaded the fight against ISIS in the region.
According to IRNA, back in July, Iran’s intelligence ministry said it disbanded a network linked to Israel’s Mossad, which had been plotting terrorist attacks in Iranian cities including Kerman. This network’s plots included targeting public areas, among them “planning an explosion at the tomb” of General Soleimani.
Daesh, or ISIS, has been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks on Iranian soil. Soleimani himself is a revered figure across West Asia due to his leadership in the struggle against ISIS terrorism. Back in September, Iranian media reported that “a key ISIS-affiliated operative in charge of carrying out terrorist operations in Iran had been arrested in Kerman,” writes Press TV.
These terrorist attacks come a day after an Israeli strike assassinated a senior Hamas leader in Beirut, a major escalation by the Zionist state, and three days following a US attack on Yemen’s Ansar Allah vessels in the Red Sea, which killed ten people.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah offered condolences during a speech hours following the attacks. “The people who were visiting [Soleimani’s] resting place and celebrating the occasion, including men, women and children, were targeted. As a result, a large number of martyrs fell,” he said.
“We offer all of their families our sincerest condolences. They are martyrs on the same road, they are martyrs of the same cause, of the same battle, that was being waged by commander Haj Qassem Soleimani.”
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