The attack carried out in Iran on Wednesday was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) on Thursday, January 4th. The double explosion occurred near the grave of General Ghassem Soleimani, the former architect of Iranian military operations in the Middle East, whose death the country celebrated in 2020. The latest report on this attack shows 84 dead.
On its Telegram channels, the jihadist group announced that two of its members had “activated their explosive belt” yesterday in Kerman, southern Iran, amid “a large gathering of apostates, near the grave of their leader Ghassem Soleimani.”
This attack was part of a campaign called “And kill them wherever you find them,” the IS press release said. A few minutes before the claim, the organization had broadcast an audio recording of its spokesman confirming that this campaign was carried out “in support of Muslims wherever they are, especially in Palestine.”
On Thursday, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told the official IRNA agency that security would be strengthened at the porous borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan and at the border crossings for armed groups fighting against Iranian power.
Deadliest attack in Iran
According to Agence France-Presse, this is the deadliest attack in Iran since 1978, when an arson attack at a cinema in Abadan killed at least 377 people.
In addition to the 84 dead, the attack left “284 injured, 195 of whom are still in hospital,” the head of the country's emergency services, Jafar Miadfar, told state television. According to him, the degraded condition of some bodies after the explosion made it difficult to identify the victims.
The latter occurred near the Saheb Al-Zaman Mosque, which houses the grave of General Soleimani, who was killed in an American drone strike in Iraq in January 2020.
The IRNA agency reported, citing “an informed source,” that an initial explosion was caused by a suicide bomber whose body was blown to pieces. In the second case, the investigation is continuing, but according to IRNA it is also very likely the act of a suicide bomber.
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The attack came in a very tense regional context since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began in October, with Iranian officials blaming Tel Aviv and Washington. In the United States, the State Department deemed any suggestion of U.S. or Israeli involvement “absurd” and did not respond.
Before the IS claim, the Islamic Republic's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had promised a “tough response” to the act. According to state media, Head of State Ebrahim Raïssi canceled a trip to Turkey planned for Thursday.
Also read: Article reserved for our subscribers Iran has been hit by the deadliest attack since the Islamic Revolution amid high regional tensions