‘Terrorist attack’ near Qassem Soleimani’s grave in Iran’s Kerman kills 103

An “terrorist attack” on Wednesday killed 103 people and wounded 188 others near a cemetery in the Iranian city of Kerman where slain commander Qassem Soleimani is buried, state media reported.

Iranian news agencies reported that two explosions occurred in close succession during a ceremony where crowds had gathered to commemorate the fourth anniversary of Soleimani’s killing.

A deputy governor of Kerman province described the incident as a “terrorist attack.” No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Iran declared Thursday a day of mourning following the deadly explosions.

President Ebrahim Raisi condemned the blasts and said Iranian security services will “soon identify and punish the perpetrators of this cowardly act.”

Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said that the initial explosion took place at 3:00 p.m. local time, with a subsequent explosion occurring after people had assembled to assist in the aftermath of the first incident.

The majority of casualties resulted from the second explosion, he added.

“This terrorist act will be met with a powerful and crushing response from the security and military apparatuses in the shortest possible time,” said Vahidi.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency, citing an “informed source,” reported that initial investigations indicate that there were two explosive devices near the cemetery, both of which the “terrorists” detonated using remote control.

Soleimani, who for over two decades headed the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed in a US airstrike in Iraq in January 2020.

He was widely regarded as the most powerful figure in the Islamic Republic after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Tehran has consistently pledged to avenge his death.

The explosions in Iran came amid heightened tensions in the region, with Iran and several Tehran-backed militant groups facing off against Israel and the US on several fronts.

Tensions soared following the outbreak of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7.

On Tuesday, senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri was killed in a drone strike on a Beirut southern suburb which Lebanese officials blamed on Israel.

Last week, the IRGC said one of its top commanders, Seyed Razi Mousavi, was killed in an Israeli strike in Syria.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group has been exchanging near-daily border fire with Israel since October 7.

US forces in Syria and Iraq have been targeted more than 100 times since October by Iran-backed militants over Washington’s support for Israel in its war with Hamas.

In the Red Sea, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia has been attacking ships it says are either linked to Israel or heading to Israeli ports.