Dubai:
Daesh claimed responsibility on Thursday for two blasts in Iran that killed nearly 100 people and wounded several at a memorial to top commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone in Iraq in 2020.
In a statement posted on its affiliated Telegram channels, the militant Sunni Muslim group said two IS members had detonated their explosive belts into the crowd that gathered at a cemetery in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of Soleimani’s death. Were gathered.
Tehran had previously blamed “terrorists” for the blasts and vowed revenge in the bloodiest such attacks since the 1979 Islamic revolution. 284 people, including women and children, were also injured in the twin blasts.
“He will be given a very strong response at the hands of Soleimani’s troops,” Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhbar told reporters in Kerman.
Earlier, an unidentified source told state news agency IRNA that the first explosion, at a cemetery in Soleimani’s hometown of Kerman, “was the result of the actions of a suicide bomber”.
“The cause of the second explosion was probably the same,” the source told IRNA.
Also read: Iran observes day of mourning for 84 killed in twin blasts
The UN Security Council in a statement condemned Wednesday’s “cowardly terrorist attack” in Kerman and expressed its condolences to the families of the victims and the Iranian government.
State TV showed crowds gathering in dozens of cities across Iran, including Kerman, chanting: “Death to Israel” and “Death to America”.
Iranian officials have called for mass protests on Friday, when funerals for victims of the twin blasts will be held, state media report.
Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps described the attacks as a cowardly act aimed at “creating insecurity and taking revenge against the nation’s deep love and devotion to the Islamic Republic”.
The guard commander in Kerman denied state media reports of gunfire in Kerman on Thursday.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi condemned Wednesday’s “heinous and inhumane crime.” Iran’s top official, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, vowed to avenge the bombing.
Daesh
In 2022, Daesh claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a shrine in Iran, which killed 15 people.
Previous attacks claimed by Daesh include twin bombings in 2017 that targeted Iran’s parliament and the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic.
The United States on Wednesday denied any involvement in the bombings and said it had no reason to believe Israel was involved. It said the blasts represented “terrorist attacks” of the type carried out by Daesh in the past.
Tehran often accuses its arch enemies, Israel and the United States, of supporting anti-Iran terrorist groups, which have carried out attacks against the Islamic Republic in the past. Baluchi militants and ethnic Arab separatists have also carried out attacks in Iran.
The January 3, 2020, US assassination of Soleimani, the drone strike at Baghdad airport, and Tehran’s retaliation – by attacking two Iraqi military bases where US troops are stationed – brought the United States and Iran closer to full-scale conflict. .
Read: Iran’s supreme leader leads funeral prayer for senior Guard adviser
As chief commander of the elite Quds Force, the foreign branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Soleimani conducted covert operations abroad and was a key player in Iran’s long-running campaign to expel US forces from the Middle East. Was a prominent person.
Tensions between Iran and Israel, as well as its ally the United States, have reached a new high over Israel’s war on Iran-backed Hamas fighters in Gaza in retaliation for the October 7 violence in southern Israel.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia has attacked ships with ties to Israel at the entrance to the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
Washington’s support for Israel has come as US forces have come under attack from Iran-backed militants in Iraq and Syria who have retaliated with airstrikes.
