More than 100 people have been killed and dozens injured in two explosions caused by “terrorist attacks” at a ceremony in Iran commemorating major general Qasem Soleimani, killed by a US drone in 2020.
Iran’s state television reported the first and then a second explosion during an anniversary event at the cemetery where Soleimani is buried in the southeastern city of Kerman.
Two explosive devices planted along the road leading to Kerman’s Martyrs’ Cemetery were detonated remotely by terrorists.
Babak Yektaparast, a spokesman for Iran’s emergency services, reported that 73 people were killed and 170 injured. State television later announced that at least 100 people had been killed.
Red Crescent rescuers treated the wounded during a ceremony where hundreds of Iranians gathered to mark the anniversary of Soleimani’s death. Reza Fallah, head of the Kerman Red Crescent Society, said:
“A terrible sound was heard there, despite all the security and safety measures. We are still investigating. We are now evacuating the wounded and injured in the area. The crowd is huge and the job is quite hard all the paths to there are blocked.”
Soleimani’s assassination in a US drone attack on Baghdad airport and Tehran’s retaliation by attacking two military bases in Iraq where US troops are stationed has brought the US and Iran to the brink of full-scale conflict in 2020.
Soleimani, a chief commander of the elite Quds force, the overseas arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), conducted covert operations in foreign countries and was a key figure in Iran’s long-running campaign to drive US troops out of the Middle East.
Iranian-backed Houthi militias in Yemen have attacked ships they say have ties to Israel at the entrance to the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest sea lanes.
US forces have been attacked by Iran-backed militants in Iraq and Syria because of Washington’s support for Israel and have retaliated with aerial strikes. On Monday, an airstrike by Israel in Syria killed a senior leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
