IS claims responsibility for twin bombings in Iran

Accordingly, two bombings occurred in the city of Kerman, southeastern Iran on January 3. The incident took place at a ceremony to commemorate General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone in 2020.

In a statement posted on its Telegram channel, the Sunni Muslim militia said two IS members detonated explosive devices among a crowd gathered at a cemetery in the southeastern city of Kerman, Iran, on Wednesday during a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of Soleimani's death.

In Washington, White House spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday that the US had no reason to doubt IS's claim of responsibility.

Tehran has previously said “terrorists” were behind the deadliest attack since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and has vowed to avenge it.

“A strong retaliation will be carried out by the hands of Soleimani’s soldiers,” Iranian Vice President Mohammad Mokhber said in Kerman.

Earlier, an anonymous source told Iran's state media agency IRNA that the first explosion at the cemetery in Kerman, Soleimani's hometown, "was the result of a suicide bombing."

“The second explosion most likely had the same cause,” the source said.

The UN Security Council in a statement condemned the “cowardly terrorist attack” in Kerman on Wednesday, and expressed condolences to the families of the victims and the Iranian government .

Iranian state television has shown images of crowds gathered in cities across Iran, including in Kerman, chanting slogans like “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.”

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have described the attack as a cowardly act “aimed at disturbing security and attacking the patriotism and devotion of the entire nation to the Islamic Republic.”

World - IS responsible for double bombing in Iran — Photo: WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS.

The commander of the Guards in Kerman has denied media reports of a shooting in Kerman on Thursday.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi condemned Wednesday’s attack as a “heinous and inhumane crime.” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has vowed revenge for the bombing.

Islamic State - IS

In 2022, IS claimed responsibility for an attack on a Shia mosque in Iran that killed 15 people.

Previously, the organization also claimed responsibility for a pair of bombings in 2017 targeting the Iranian parliament and the tomb of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The US government on Wednesday dismissed suggestions that the country was involved in the bombing and said it had no reason to believe Israel was involved. The US said the explosion had several features that indicated it was a “terrorist attack” of the type often carried out by the Islamic State group.

Tehran often accuses its two rivals, Israel and the United States, of backing Islamist militias that have carried out attacks on the Islamic Republic in the past. Baluchi militias and Arab separatist groups have also carried out attacks on Iran.

The assassination of Soleimani in a US drone strike on January 3, 2020 at Baghdad airport, as well as Iran's retaliation – attacking two military bases in Iraq hosting US troops – pushed the two countries closer to the brink of full-scale conflict.

As commander-in-chief of the Quds Force, the foreign wing of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Soleimani ran numerous clandestine operations abroad and was a key figure in Iran's long-running campaign to push US forces out of the Middle East.

Tensions between Iran and Israel and its ally the United States reached a boiling point when Israel declared war on Hamas, the Iran-backed militia in Gaza, in retaliation for an attack the group carried out on October 7, 2023, in southern Israel.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia has also attacked ships it claims are linked to Israel in the Red Sea region.

US forces have also come under attack by Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria over Washington's support for Israel, and have carried out retaliatory airstrikes for these attacks.

Nguyen Quang Minh (according to Reuters)

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