- We’ll meet ‘terrorist attack’ with ‘harsh response’ – Ayatollah Khamenei vows
Not less than 103 people have been reported killed in Iran on Wednesday as two bombs exploded in quick succession in a crowd that gathered to commemorate slain General Qasem Soleimani on the fourth anniversary of his assassination by the United States (US)
Iran’s state media reports that scores of others were wounded when the blasts hit a procession near the Saheb al-Zaman mosque in the city of Kerman with videos showing bodies on a road and ambulances rushing to the scene.
According to the state media, the blasts came with tensions running high in the Middle East a day after Hamas number two man, Saleh al-Aruri, an Iran ally, was killed in a drone attack on a Beirut southern suburb which Lebanese officials blamed on Israel.
In describing the incident as a “terrorist attack”, Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said the blasts occurred near the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque in Kerman, Soleimani’s southern hometown where he is buried, as supporters gathered to mark the fourth anniversary of his killing in a US drone strike just outside Baghdad airport.
With no immediate claims of responsibility from any groups for what is believed to be the deadliest such attack in Iran in 42 years, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed the “terrorist attack” would be met with a “harsh response”.
In a statement on Wednesday evening, the Ayatollah expressed condolences to the families of those killed, saying; “The evil and criminal enemies of the Iranian nation once again created a disaster and martyred a large number of dear people in Kerman.
“Be it those with innocent blood on their hands or those corrupt minds that led to this atrocity, they will be met with a firm crackdown and fair punishment, commencing immediately. They should know that this disaster will have a harsh response, God willing.”
President Ebrahim Raisi called the bombings a “cowardly act” carried out by “Iran-hating criminals and the henchmen of terror and darkness”.
Official IRNA news agency, which earlier reported 73 deaths, later said; “The number of people killed rose to 103 following the death of people injured during the terrorist explosions”, adding that another 141 people were wounded in the bombings with many others in “critical condition”.
Similarly, Iran’s Tasnim news agency, quoted informed sources, saying; “Two bags carrying bombs went off” at the site., adding; “Apparently, the perpetrators… of this incident detonated the bombs by remote control”.
Reacting to the unfortunate incident, Kerman’s Deputy Governor, Rahman Jalali, said the explosions were a “terrorist attack”, a claim also re-echoed by Kerman Mayor, Saeed Tabrizi, who told ISNA news agency that the bombs exploded 10 minutes apart.
Also, ISNA quoted an eyewitness as saying; “We were walking towards the cemetery when a car suddenly stopped behind us and a waste bin containing a bomb exploded. We only heard the sound of the explosion and saw people falling. There was a bomb in the trash can”.
Online footage showed crowds scrambling to flee the incident as security personnel cordoned off the area, while images on State Television showed several ambulances and rescue personnel working in the blast area.
Reports by Iran’s Red Crescent indicated that among those killed were three paramedics who were dispatched to the area following the first explosion, according to Iran’s Red Crescent.
The late Soleimani headed the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, overseeing military operations across the Middle East.
Quite popular and declared a “living martyr” by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while still alive, Soleimani was widely regarded as a hero for his role in defeating the Islamic State jihadist group in both Iraq and Syria.
In the eyes of many Iranians, his military and strategic prowess was instrumental in warding off the multi-ethnic disintegration of neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan as well as Syria and Iraq.
Considered by the US and its allies as a deadly adversary, General Soleimani was one of the most important powerbrokers across the region, setting Iran’s political and military agenda in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.
It is on record that days after he died in 2020 and leading up to his funeral in Kerman, millions of Iranians turned out to mourn in a show of national unity and a survey published in 2018 by IranPoll and the University of Maryland found Soleimani had a popularity rating in Iran of 83 percent.
Interestingly, the rating was seen as far ahead of then-president Hassan Rouhani and then-foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. – With agency reports
