KERMAN, Iran – At least 70 people were killed and dozens injured Wednesday in two blasts that struck the central Iranian city of Kerman, emergency services reported. The tragic incident occurred as thousands of mourners had gathered to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian military leader who was killed in a U.S. strike in Iraq in 2020.
A spokesman for the country’s emergency department was quoted by Iran’s state-run news agency reporting 73 people were killed and 170 were injured. The deputy governor of Kerman, the slain general’s hometown, described the incident as a “terrorist attack,” according to Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
The first explosion occurred near Soleimani’s burial place, and the second was near the shrine. Before the blasts, the state-run live broadcast had shown thousands of mourners filling the street, moving calmly in a procession. After the attack, it broadcast video of people running frantically and men wearing EMT uniforms surging into the crowd.
Soleimani headed the Quds Force, an expeditionary unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and oversaw a network of Iranian-supported proxy groups across the Middle East. The blasts Wednesday came amid intensifying involvement by Iranian-backed militant groups in a confrontation with Israel and its principal backer, the United States, during Israel’s war in Gaza.
In the wake of the tragic incident, there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. This devastating event demonstrates the ongoing volatility and tensions in the Middle East, as Iran and its allies continue to clash with regional and global powers.
Overall, the attack resulted in at least 70 deaths and dozens of injuries, with no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosions. The incident serves as a reminder of the ongoing instability and conflict in the Middle East, with potentially far-reaching implications for the region and the world at large.