Tehran- Two bombs exploded minutes apart on Wednesday at a commemoration for a prominent Iranian commander Lt General Qassem Soleimani, slain in a US drone strike in 2020, officials in Iran said, killing at least 211 people and wounding nearly 200 as the Middle East remains on edge over Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for what appeared to be the deadliest terror attack to target Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. The blasts shook the city of Kerman, about 820 kilometers in central Iran and sent shrapnel hurtling into a screaming crowd fleeing the first explosion.
Reports said there were two explosions at the site in Kerman where the former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander is buried. Soleimani is considered a martyr by the ‘Axis of Resistance’ which is engaged in war against Israel in and around Gaza.
Thousands of people had gathered at Soleimani’s gravesite to commemorate his fourth anniversary. According to IRNA, the first explosion occurred some 700 meters from the grave of General Soleimani and the second one about one kilometer away. The first explosion occurred at 14:50 local time, and the second took place 15 minutes later. A delayed second explosion is often used by terrorists to target emergency personnel responding to the scene and inflict more casualties.
The attack comes a day after top Hamas leader Saleh al Arouri was assassinated in a drone strike in Beirut and a week after a top Iranian commander in Syria Brigadier General Seyyed Razi was killed in a similar attack. Both attacks have been carried out by Israel, it is widely believed.
Israel has earlier conducted targeted assassinations of Iranian scientists inside Iran while extremist groups including Daesh have conducted large-scale attacks in the past that killed civilians.
Soleimani, Iran’s iconic military general, was assassinated in a US drone strike during a visit to Baghdad in 2020 to meet the then-prime minister reportedly to discuss Iran-Saudi rapprochement.
Soleimani was the architect of Iran’s regional military alliances called “Axis of Resistance” spreading from Yemen to Gaza to fight the US dominance and defeat the Daesh terror group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.
He has been instrumental in helping build military capabilities of Palestinian factions against Israel.
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