Nearly 100 mourners were killed and over 200 injured in two back-to-back explosions that rocked a cemetery in the Iranian city of Kerman during a memorial for slain military leader Qassem Soleimani on Wednesday.
The first blast was followed 20 minutes later by another heavier explosion as people had gathered to commemorate the fourth death anniversary of General Soleimani, Iran’s state media reported.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced the carnage as an “act of terror” and vowed revenge against the “wicked perpetrators” behind one of Iran’s deadliest such attacks.
Soleimani headed the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards before being assassinated in January 2020 by a US drone strike ordered by then-president Donald Trump. He was considered a national icon and revered as a war hero by supporters.
The memorial event at Soleimani’s gravesite in his hometown Kerman was rattled by two explosions from devices allegedly planted by “terrorists” and detonated remotely, a state official told news agency IRNA.
While no group immediately took responsibility, Iran has blamed militants from the Islamic State group for similar bombings in the past. However, the arch-rival US dismissed any role despite tensions over Soleimani’s killing that brought the nations close to open conflict.
The rare assault drew global condemnation from Russia, Turkey, and the United Nations. It threatens to ignite fresh turmoil as Iran’s leadership vowed revenge for the attack targeting Soleimani’s death anniversary memorial.
The loss of so many civilian lives has dealt a blow to Iran just as its economy was crippled by years of Western sanctions. The twin blasts that wreaked havoc signal major security failures amid ongoing regional tensions involving Tehran.
