AGI – ISIS has claimed responsibility for yesterday’s explosions in Kerman, Iran. This was reported by the Portal agency, citing the Islamic State's Telegram channel.
The United Nations Security Council condemned yesterday's attack near the grave of Qassem Soleimani in Iran in a statement issued shortly after the Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility.
“We underline the need to hold accountable and bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of shameful terrorist attacks,” the council argued.
The Islamic State announced through its Telegram channels that two of its members had “activated their explosive belt” amid “a large gathering of apostates, near the grave of their leader Qassem Soleimani.”
Crowds gathered there to commemorate the death of the general, who was killed by an American attack in Iraq in January 2020 and celebrated in Iran for his role in defeating ISIS. The public funerals of the victims planned for Friday were canceled “by decision” of the authorities, the governor of Kerman also told the Tasnim news agency, specifying that this was the case Victims are buried “only in the presence of family members”.
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi also announced thisISNA agency that security will be strengthened along the borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan and at the border crossings for armed groups fighting against Iranian power.
Before ISIS's claims, Tehran He immediately pointed the finger at Israel and the United States. A political advisor to the Iranian president Mohammad Jamshidi He explicitly accused the “American and Zionist regimes” of being behind the attack.
The U.S. State Department had dismissed any suggestion of U.S. or Israeli involvement as “absurd,” and a senior U.S. official was the first to say the attack had all the hallmarks “as ISIS has done in the past.” “.
The initial toll of more than 100 deaths was revised downwards on Thursday by the head of the country's emergency services, Jafar Miadfar, who reported 84 people killed and 284 wounded.
Iran's arch-enemy Israel has not commented on the attack. “We are focused on the fight against Hamas” in the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had promised a “tough response” before ISIS made claims and President Ebrahim Raissi canceled a trip to Turkey.
International condemnations
According to Iranian sources, the first explosion occurred 700 meters from General Soleimani's grave, the second one kilometer further away. The United Nations Security Council on Thursday “strongly condemned the cowardly terrorist attack.” “Terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, represents one of the most dangerous threats to international peace and security,” its members affirmed.
The Tehran-backed Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas condemned a “terrorist act” intended to “destabilize the security of the Islamic Republic in service of the agenda of the Zionist entity (Israel).” Syria expressed “its complete solidarity in the face of the terrorist attacks and shameful conspiracies” against its Iranian ally.
The Russian President Wladimir Putin He denounced an attack that was “shocking in its cruelty and cynicism.”
Also the Secretary General of the UNthe European Union, France, Germany, Jordan and Saudi Arabia condemned the attack.
Sergio Mattarella, stricter sentencing
“The despicable terrorist attack that took place yesterday in Kerman, Iran, which claimed the lives of many citizens, deserves the strongest condemnation of the international community. The Iranian people before whom this must be expressed.” deep condolenceshas the right to live in peace.” The President of the Republic wrote this in a note: Sergio Mattarella.
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