Two bombs have ripped through a commemoration ceremony honouring the one-year anniversary of the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. Reports state that at least 103 people have been killed, marking this as the deadliest militant attack in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. A further 211 people are reported to have been injured in the twin blasts, which occurred minutes apart.
The ceremony was taking place in Kerman to mark the anniversary of the General’s death in a US drone strike in Iraq in 2020. The explosions occurred near his grave site as people gathered to pay their respects. Global tensions have been brewing over Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Images and video shared on social media have shown correspondences with the officials’ accounts of the incidents. The first bomb detonated around 3 pm, with the other going off about 20 minutes later, killing and wounding the most people. Iranian state television and officials have described the attacks as bombings, but have not yet given clear details of what happened.
The explosions shook the city of Kerman, approximately 820 kilometres southeast of the capital, Tehran, sending shrapnel into a crowd of people who were fleeing the first explosion. The crowd rushed along the Martyrs’ Street where the second blast then struck around a kilometre from the grave. Delayed second explosions are often used to target emergency responders to the scene, and this may have been the case here to increase fatalities.
Emergency officials have released statements regarding the casualty figures, which rapidly rose in the hours following the attack. The national day of mourning has been declared by Iran’s authorities for Thursday to mark the tragic loss of life.
Events such as this only increase tensions in a volatile area, adding to the already tense situation in the Middle East with the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
