On Wednesday, the anniversary of the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, an explosion was heard close to his grave, killing scores of individuals, Iranian state tv reported.
State information company IRNA quoted Jafar Miadfar, head of Iran’s National Medical Emergencies Agency, as saying 84 individuals had been killed and 284 injured.
No group has but claimed duty for the explosion, believed to be the deadliest extremist assault on mainland Iran because the 1979 revolution. Thursday was declared a day of mourning throughout the United States.
The explosion got here amid already heightened tensions over Israel’s conflict in Gaza with Hamas, a Palestinian militant group and Iranian ally. Hamas is taken into account a terrorist group by the United States, Israel, the European Union, and different international locations.
What we find out about this assault
The two explosions occurred round 3pm (11:30am Japan time) and 20 minutes later, and had been mentioned to have occurred close to the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque in Kerman, southern Iran, the place Soleimani is buried. It is being
SNN information company reported that an ambulance was heading to the cemetery the place tons of of individuals had gathered to mark the anniversary of Soleimani’s demise in a 2020 US drone strike at Baghdad airport.
Iran’s Tasnim information company, citing sources, mentioned there have been two baggage containing bombs that appeared to have been detonated by distant management.
Rahman Jalali, deputy governor of Kerman province, advised state tv that the explosion was a “terrorist assault” however didn’t elaborate on the potential perpetrators.
He mentioned many of the victims died within the second bombing.
Khamenei vows ‘robust response’
“There will probably be a powerful response to this tragedy,” the Islamic Republic’s supreme chief Ayatollah Khamenei mentioned in a press release hours after the explosion.
He positioned the blame on “evil and prison enemies of the Iranian state”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has vowed to rapidly discover the perpetrators of Wednesday’s “heinous” assault.
“I’ve little question that the perpetrators of this dastardly act will quickly be recognized and punished for his or her heinous acts by competent safety and regulation enforcement forces,” Raisi mentioned in a press release.
“Enemies of the state ought to know that such acts can by no means disrupt the agency resolve of the Iranian nation.”
“The United States was not concerned in any manner and any suggestion on the contrary is ridiculous,” he mentioned, including: “There isn’t any motive to imagine that Israel was concerned on this explosion.”
“My condolences exit to the victims and their family members who misplaced their lives on this horrific explosion,” Miller mentioned.
widespread condemnation
The assault was broadly condemned, with Germany, the European Union, Russia and others issuing statements.
“We are deeply saddened by at this time’s explosion in Kerman, which left many useless, together with many youngsters,” the German Foreign Ministry posted on X (previously Twitter) on Wednesday. “We condemn this act of terrorism.”
The EU’s prime diplomat, Josep Borrell, expressed his condolences on social media, saying: “We condemn this terrorist assault within the strongest phrases and specific our solidarity with the Iranian individuals.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin additionally despatched a message of solidarity in a letter to Khamenei.
“The killing of peaceable individuals who visited the cemetery is surprising in its brutality and irony,” Putin mentioned.
Who was Qassem Soleimani?
Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force and head of exterior operations for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, was seen as a logo by supporters of Iran’s theocracy. At his funeral in 2020, at the least 56 individuals died and tons of had been injured within the stampede.
Soleimani grew to become a U.S. goal within the early 2000s after it was found that he had armed Iraqi insurgents with penetrating roadside bombs that killed and significantly injured U.S. troopers. This help elevated his reputation and visibility in Iran.
He later grew to become a well-known battlefield commander and in addition wielded appreciable political energy.
His demise in a drone strike launched by the Trump administration got here amid an escalation in incidents in 2018 following Washington’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear cope with Tehran.
tj/nm (Reuters, AFP, Associated Press)