At least 103 people were killed and 141 injured in an attack on Wednesday near the tomb of Qassem Soleimani, architect of Iranian military operations in the Middle East, whose death Iran is celebrating the fourth anniversary of, state media reported. State.
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The double explosion took place near the Saheb al-Zaman mosque, where General Soleimani’s tomb is located, in Kerman, southern Iran. A compact crowd made up of representatives of the regime and anonymous people gathered there for a commemorative ceremony.
“The number of people killed rose to 103 after people succumbed to their injuries,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency said, adding that some of the injured were “in critical condition.”
The attack was quickly labeled a “terrorist” act by Rahman Jalali, deputy governor of Kerman province in southern Iran. It was not immediately claimed.
Qassem Soleimani was killed in January 2020, at the age of 62, during an American drone attack in Iraq. A key figure in the Iranian regime, he was also one of the country’s most popular public figures.
Remote control bombs
According to the Iranian Tasnim agency, which cites well-informed sources, the explosions were caused by “bombs hidden in two bags”.
“The perpetrators apparently activated the bombs via a remote control,” according to the same source.
The Isna agency, which quotes the mayor of Kerman, Said Tabrizi, explains that the explosions occurred ten minutes apart.
Videos posted on social media showed participants desperately trying to leave the site as security personnel cordoned off the area. In other videos, people can be seen running, panicked and disoriented.
Shortly after the explosions, rescuers were on site. Numerous ambulances were also on the scene.
Qassem Soleimani led the Quds Force, the external operations arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, overseeing military operations throughout the Middle East.
Declared a “living martyr” by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while he was still alive, Soleimani was considered a hero for his role in the defeat of the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq and Syria.
In the eyes of many Iranians, its military and strategic prowess helped avert the multi-ethnic disintegration of neighboring countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.
Long considered a sworn enemy by the United States and its allies, Soleimani was one of the region’s most important power brokers, setting Iran’s political and military agenda in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. , according to observers.