95 dead in a double explosion near the tomb of General Soleimani, assassinated by the United States four years ago

The explosions occurred Wednesday in the south of the country, as Iran commemorates the fourth anniversary of the death of the senior officer.

No fewer than 95 people died on Wednesday, January 3, in a double explosion near the tomb of Revolutionary Guard general Qassem Soleimani, assassinated by the United States in 2020, state television reported. The latter specifies that 141 people were also injured. An initial report showed 103 dead, some names “having been recorded twice”according to the Minister of Health, Bahram Eynollahi.

“The incident is a terrorist attack”, state television quoted Rahman Jalali, deputy governor of Kerman province in southern Iran, as saying. According to television images, rescuers were working on the spot, where many people were gathered for the anniversary of the general’s death. The Iranian government has decreed a “national day of mourning throughout the country” for Thursday, state television reported.

An unclaimed attack

The attack, which was not immediately claimed, occurs in a very tense regional context since the start of the conflict in October between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and the day after the elimination of a senior official of the Palestinian Islamist movement in a strike near Beirut.

A political adviser to the Iranian president accused Israel and the United States of being behind the attack. “The responsibility for this crime lies with the American and Zionist regimes, and terrorism is only a tool”wrote Mohammad Jamshidi on X.

Iran’s sworn enemy, Israel, has not commented on the attack. “We are focused on fighting with Hamas”, replied army spokesperson Daniel Hagari to a question. The State Department in Washington, for its part, ruled “absurd” any suggestion of US or Israeli involvement.