Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 

In Two Separate Explosions, 103 Iranians Killed, 141 Injured in the City of Kerman, While Attending General Soleimani's Anniversary

January 3, 2024

 

Iranians collecting human body parts of those who were killed in the Kerman explosions, January 3, 2024	Rescuing some of the Iranian victims, who were injured by the Kerman explosions, January 3, 2024
Two separate explosions left 103 people killed and 141 injured in the Iranian city of Kerman, January 3, 2024	Site of one of the two separate explosions which left 103 people killed and 141 injured in the Iranian city of Kerman, January 3, 2024
General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in January 2020 anadolu

103 killed, 141 injured in Iran’s Kerman blasts

January 3, 2024, Kerman, IRNA –

Two separate explosions left 103 people killed and 141 injured in the Iranian city of Kerman.

The first blast took place 700 meters away from Martyr General Qassem Soleimani’s tomb and the second explosion happened one kilometer away from it.

Numerous people were taking part in the fourth martyrdom anniversary of General Soleimani in his city of Kerman when the blasts occurred.

The explosions dispersed mourners from Kerman’s cemetery and ambulances rushed to deliver the injured to hospitals in the city.

Reza Fallah, head of the Kerman province Red Crescent, told IRNA that some 141 injured people have been delivered to hospitals so far.

Fallah also said that a loud explosion was heard, and officials are examining the cause of the blast.

A security official in Kerman also confirmed the explosion, noting that it is not yet clear whether the explosion was caused by a gas cylinder or a terrorist attack.

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Iranian Authorities confirm explosions in Iran’s Kerman were terrorism

January 3, 2024, Tehran, IRNA –

Authorities in the southeastern Iranian province of Kerman have confirmed that two explosions that rocked a crowded memorial service in the province on Wednesday were related to terrorism. 

Kerman’s deputy governor for security Rahman Jalali said on Wednesday that the explosions that took place earlier in the day in the Martyrs Cemetery of the provincial capital of Kerman had been carried out by terrorists. 

A latest update by authorities shows at least 103 people were killed and 141 were injured in the explosions. 

The explosions came on the day people held a memorial service for General Qassem Soleimani, the late Iranian commander who was assassinated on January 3, 2020 in a US drone strike in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. 

Soleimani, who is originally from Iran’s Kerman province, has been buried in the Martyrs Cemetery of the provincial capital.

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Iran declares national day of mourning over Kerman terrorist attack

January 3, 2024, Kerman, IRNA –

 Iran has announced a national day of mourning following terrorist blasts, which left 103 martyrs and 211 injured in southeastern city of Kerman.

The Iranian administration announced Thursday, the day of national mourning, while Kerman province declared three days of mourning.

The Commission of National-Security and Foreign-Policy of Iran’s parliament plans to dispatch a delegation to Kerman to inspect different aspects of the terrorist act.

Abolfazl Amouei, spokesman for the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, underlined that the attack indicated Martyr General Qassem Soleimani’s fight against terrorism was the right path, which will be continued strongly.

A police spokesperson also declared that three police officers were martyred while they were trying to assist people who were targetted in Kerman explosions. Some other news sources reported on social media that four police officers were martyred in this terrorist incident.

Two explosions came on the day people were holding a memorial service for General Qassem Soleimani, the late IRGC commander who was assassinated in a US drone strike in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on January 3, 2020. Martyr Soleimani, who is originally from Iran’s Kerman province, was buried in the Martyrs Cemetery of the provincial capital.

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Iran to respond firmly and quickly to terror attacks in Kerman: Minister

January 3, 2024, Tehran, IRNA -

Iran’s interior minister says the country’s security and military forces will deliver a quick and firm response to perpetrators of terror attacks that killed more than 100 people in the southeastern city of Kerman. 

This terrorist act will be followed by a firm and destructive response in the shortest time possible of the security and military forces,” said Ahmad Vahid on Wednesday. 

Elaborating on the details of the attacks that rocked a crowded memorial service at Kerman’s Martyrds Cemetery earlier in the day, Vahidi said most of the fatalities had been caused by a second explosion which took place 20 minutes after a first bomb exploded among the crowd. 

He said that a probe had been launched to determine who was behind the attacks and what caused them, adding that more information will be released to the public as soon as the results of the initial investigations are known. 

A latest update by authorities shows at least 103 people were killed and 141 were injured in the explosions outside Kerman’s Martyrs Cemetery on Wednesday.  

 The explosions came on the day people held a memorial service for General Qassem Soleimani, the late Iranian commander who was assassinated on January 3, 2020 in a US drone strike in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. 

Soleimani, who is originally from Iran’s Kerman province, has been buried in the Martyrs Cemetery of the provincial capital.

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Iran declares national day of mourning over Kerman terrorist attacks

January 3, 2024, Kerman, IRNA – Iran has announced a national day of mourning following terrorist blasts, which left 103 martyrs and 211 injured in southeastern city of Kerman.

The Iranian administration announced Thursday, the day of national mourning, while Kerman province declared three days of mourning.

The Commission of National-Security and Foreign-Policy of Iran’s parliament plans to dispatch a delegation to Kerman to inspect different aspects of the terrorist act.

Abolfazl Amouei, spokesman for the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, underlined that the attack indicated Martyr General Qassem Soleimani’s fight against terrorism was the right path, which will be continued strongly.

A police spokesperson also declared that three police officers were martyred while they were trying to assist people who were targetted in Kerman explosions. Some other news sources reported on social media that four police officers were martyred in this terrorist incident.

Two explosions came on the day people were holding a memorial service for General Qassem Soleimani, the late IRGC commander who was assassinated in a US drone strike in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on January 3, 2020. Martyr Soleimani, who is originally from Iran’s Kerman province, was buried in the Martyrs Cemetery of the provincial capital.

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  Iran: At least 103 killed, 141 wounded in blasts at ceremony honoring slain general

Iranian state media called the blasts a "terroristic" attack.

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

January 3, 2024, 7:22 AM

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- 

Two bombs exploded and killed at least 103 people Wednesday at a commemoration for a prominent Iranian general slain by the U.S. in a 2020 drone strike, Iranian officials said, as the Middle East remains on edge over Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for what appeared to be the deadliest militant attack to target Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran's leaders vowed to punish those responsible for the blasts, which wounded at least 211 people.

The blasts minutes apart shook the city of Kerman, about 820 kilometers (510 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran, and sprayed shrapnel into a screaming crowd fleeing the first explosion.

The gathering marked the fourth anniversary of the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq. The explosions occurred near his grave site as long lines of people gathered for the event.

Iranian state television and officials described the attacks as bombings, without immediately giving clear details of what happened. The attacks came a day after a deputy head of the Palestinian militant group Hamas was killed in a suspected Israeli strike in Beirut.

The first bomb Wednesday was detonated around 3 p.m., and the other went off some 20 minutes later, the Iranian interior minister, Ahmad Vahidi, told state television. He said the second blast killed and wounded the most people.

Images and video shared on social media appeared to correspond with the accounts of officials, who said the first blast happened about 700 meters (765 yards) from Soleimani's grave in the Kerman Martyrs Cemetery near a parking lot. The crowd then rushed west along Shohada Street, where the second blast struck about 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) from the grave.

A delayed second explosion is often used by militants to inflict more casualties by targeting emergency personnel responding to an attack.

Iranian state TV and state-run IRNA news agency quoted emergency officials for the casualty figures. Authorities said Thursday would be a national day of mourning.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the attackers will face “a harsh response,” though he didn't name any possible suspect. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi added: "Undoubtedly, the perpetrators and leaders of this cowardly act will soon be identified and punished.”

Iran has multiple foes who could be behind the assault, including exile groups, militant organizations and state actors.

While Israel has carried out attacks in Iran over its nuclear program, it has conducted targeted assassinations, not mass casualty bombings.

Israel is suspected of launching the attack Tuesday that killed a deputy head of Hamas in Beirut, but that attack caused limited casualties in a densely populated neighborhood of the Lebanese capital. Last week, a suspected Israeli strike killed a Revolutionary Guard commander in Syria.

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Soleimani was the architect of Iran’s regional military activities and is hailed as a national icon among supporters of Iran’s theocracy. He also helped secure Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government after the 2011 Arab Spring protests against him turned into a civil, and later a regional, war that still rages today.

Soleimani had been relatively unknown in Iran until the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. His popularity and mystique grew after American officials called for his killing over his help in arming militants with penetrating roadside bombs that killed and maimed U.S. troops.

A decade and a half later, Soleimani had become Iran’s most recognizable battlefield commander. He ignored calls to enter politics but grew as powerful, if not more so, than its civilian leadership.

Ultimately, a drone strike launched by the Trump administration killed the general, part of escalating incidents that followed America’s 2018 unilateral withdrawal from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

Soleimani’s death has drawn large processions in the past. At his funeral in 2020, a stampede broke out in Kerman and at least 56 people were killed and more than 200 were injured as thousands thronged the procession.

Until Wednesday, the deadliest attack to strike Iran since the revolution was the 1981 truck bombing of the Islamic Republican Party’s headquarters in Tehran. That attack killed at least 72 people, including the party’s leader, four government ministers, eight deputy ministers and 23 parliament members.

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Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran; Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; Bassem Mroue in Beirut; and Jack Jeffery and Emma Burrows in London contributed to this report.

Iran: At least 103 killed, 141 wounded in blasts at ceremony honoring slain general - ABC News (go.com)

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