Iran
Iranian mourners gather around slain top general Qasem Soleimani's coffin during the commander's funeral processions, in Kerman on January 7, 2020. Photo: Atta Kenare / AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Over 100 people were killed and nearly 150 injured after two explosions occurred in southeastern Iran’s Kerman province, near the cemetery where Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani is buried, as thousands held a commemorative ceremony on the fourth anniversary of his assassination, according to the country's emergency service agency.
The explosions occurred nearly 15 minutes apart, according to Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The first blast occurred nearly 700 meters away from Soleimani’s shrine while the second happened about a kilometer away from the shrine, reported Iranian stated media (IRNA).
Rahman Jalali, Kerman governor’s security deputy, labelled the incident as a “terrorist attack.”
Iran's National Emergency Services reported that at least 103 people were killed and 141 injured in the blasts. The death toll is expected to climb.
Tens were injured in a stampede as people panicked after the blasts.
Soleimani, head of the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the IRGC, was killed in a US airstrike near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020, alongside Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
The strike was ordered by former US President Donald Trump in response to the constant attacks by IRGC-allied groups on the US embassy in Baghdad and military bases housing coalition and US forces across the country.
Iraq’s judiciary issued an arrest warrant for Trump in 2022 for ordering the assassination of Soleimani and Muhandis.
Updated with new figures of casualties at 5:21 pm
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