Several American newspapers wrote that the United States had already warned Iran before the massacre carried out by the Islamist terrorist group in Kerman on January 3 that ISIS was planning an attack on Iranian territory: at least 84 people were killed in the massacre, there were two loud ones Killed in explosions near the cemetery where General Qassem Suleimani, long one of Iran's most powerful soldiers, is buried. According to anonymous U.S. government sources seen by the newspapers, U.S. intelligence became aware of an ISIS plot to attack Iran before the Jan. 3 massacre and the U.S. government warned Iran .
The warning is notable because Iran does not have formal diplomatic relations with the United States and it is unclear through which channels the U.S. government was able to inform the Iranian government. According to US newspaper sources, the United States provided Iran with fairly detailed information about the timing and locations of the possible attack in order to prevent the massacre, but Iran still did nothing to prevent it. Currently, the Iranian government has not commented on the news from US newspapers.
According to US intelligence, ISIS may have carried out the attack to take advantage of the unstable situation in the region due to the ongoing war in Gaza and attack Iran, which is its known enemy. ISIS had already carried out several terrorist attacks in the country, most recently in October 2022, when 15 people were killed by three gunmen at a large Shiite place of worship in the city of Shiraz.