At least 103 people have died and some 141 have been injured – according to Iran’s state media – in two explosions that occurred in Kerman, in the southeast of the country, during the commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the general’s death. Qassem Soleimani.
Thousands of people had gathered at the cemetery in that town, located about 820 kilometers southeast of Tehran, to pay tribute to the former head of Iran’s Quds Force, killed four years ago in a US drone attack in Iraq.
Soleimani was the architect of Iranian foreign policy in the Middle East, responsible for the expansion of Tehran’s influence in countries in the region. Iran has supported Hamas, as well as the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
According to Iranian state television, several gas cylinders exploded on the road leading to the cemetery where tribute to the general was going to be paid. “A huge explosion was heard near the mosque,” the state television channel reported, before adding that another explosion had sounded a few minutes later. The images suggest that the second occurred about 15 minutes after the first, a maneuver that sometimes aims to attack the emergency personnel who go to the scene and cause more victims.
A provincial security official initially said it was still unknown whether it was an accidental explosion or a deliberate attack. However, Rahman Jalali, deputy governor of Kerman province, declared on television that the bombs were “a terrorist attack.” For its part, the Tasnim agency, semi-official and linked to the Revolutionary Guard, based on unidentified sources, speaks of two bombs activated by remote control. No one has so far claimed responsibility for this attack.