Explosions at memorial service: IS terrorist militia claims attack in Iran

The terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the devastating attack in the Iranian city of Kerman that left more than 80 dead. The group announced through its usual propaganda channels that two assassins detonated their explosive belts during mourning events yesterday on the anniversary of the death of Iranian general Ghassem Soleimani.

The two massive explosions near Soleimani’s gravesite in his hometown killed 84 people and injured 284. The federal government and the EU condemned the attack as an act of terror. It was the deadliest attack in the 45-year history of the Islamic Republic. Experts had already suspected that IS could be behind the attack.

Iranian officials had revised the death toll down twice from an initial figure of 105. Jafar Miadfar, head of the rescue service, explained the confusion over the number of victims with the devastating condition of some of the bodies.

UN Security Council condemns attack in Iran

The UN Security Council has condemned the devastating attack in the Iranian city of Kerman, which left more than 80 dead, as a “cowardly terrorist attack”. “The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, represents one of the most serious threats to international peace and security,” the most powerful UN body said in a joint statement. Those responsible must be held accountable.

IS despises Shiites

More than a year ago, IS claimed responsibility for an attack on a Shiite shrine in the cultural metropolis of Shiraz. Back then, in October 2022, more than a dozen people were killed. The judiciary then publicly executed two men with Afghan citizenship whom Iran had held responsible for the attack.

IS considers Iran’s predominant Shiite population to be apostates from Islam and despises them. Shia, the smaller of the two major branches of Islam, is the state religion of the Islamic Republic. A regional branch of IS is active in neighboring Afghanistan, where the group wants to establish a “province” called IS-Khorasan near Pakistan.

State agency reports suicide attack

Before ISIS’s statement, the state agency Irna reported, citing an unnamed source, that one of the two explosions was caused by a suicide bomber. This was revealed, among other things, by the evaluation of video surveillance.

Today there was national mourning in the country with almost 90 million inhabitants. Iran’s diplomatic missions abroad had their flags flown at half-mast, as did the embassy in Berlin.

The burial of the victims is scheduled to take place tomorrow, in a martyrs’ cemetery. Around two thirds of the victims have now been identified, the province’s governor said, according to the state news agency Irna.

Iran’s leadership strongly condemned the attack, but initially avoided assigning blame. Religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi announced a decisive reaction. Interior Minister Ahmad Wahidi published findings from the initial investigation after visiting the attack sites. Among other things, the remains of the two explosive devices that detonated 20 minutes apart were examined.

Kerman is the home of Soleimani, the former commander of the foreign units of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The USA killed him in a drone strike in Iraq on January 3, 2020. He is revered as a martyr by government supporters loyal to the system. The explosions occurred as crowds marched through the streets of the provincial capital to Soleimani’s gravesite.

The attack came amid dangerous tensions in the Middle East: Iran’s arch-enemy Israel is waging war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and facing Iranian-backed militias such as Hezbollah in Lebanon. Yesterday, influential hardliners blamed Israel for the explosions.