1 of 2 Image of the procession to the grave of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, shortly after two explosions rocked the site in Iran on January 3, 2024. Photo: Iran Press via AFP Image of the procession to the grave of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani shortly after two explosions rocked the site in Iran on January 3, 2024. Photo: Iran Press via AFP
According to local authorities, the group would pay tribute to Soleimani the death of the general who was one of the most influential people in Iran, turned four this Wednesday.
O The Iranian government described the explosion as a terrorist attackbut as of the last update to this story, no group had claimed responsibility for the attack.
The local press said the explosions occurred on a road on the way to the cemetery where Soleimani's body is buried in the city of Kerman in the country's central region.
The first explosion occurred about 700 meters from the Iranian general's grave, according to Iranian media. Local journalists also reported that they still existed several bodies scattered around around the location.
Soleimani's death triggered a wave of revolt against the United States the general was then head of a special unit in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and one of the most powerful men in the country.
He was killed in a drone strike on his home in Baghdad, Iraq. The operation was ordered by then President of the United States Donald Trump. At the time, the Pentagon, which commanded the attack, claimed that Soleimani was behind the deaths of US soldiers in the Middle East and was planning future Iranian attacks.
The image shows details of a drone model that would have been used in an attack that killed General Qassem Soleimani Photo: Amanda Paes/G1
Crowd attends Soleimani's funeral in Iran
2 of 2 In a 2016 photo, Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, attends a meeting in Terran, Iran Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP, archive In a 2016 photo, Qassem Soleimani, Chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard attends a meeting in Terran, Iran Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP, Archives