1/3/2024-|Last update: 1/3/202407:19 PM (Mecca time)
The Iranian Emergency Authority said, “The death toll from the two terrorist explosions near the grave of the former commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Soleimani, in Kerman Province, southern Iran, has risen to 103 dead and 141 wounded.”
Kerman Province is witnessing ceremonies and events commemorating the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Soleimani, amidst interest in these events from all Iranian regions.
Iranian television reported that a first explosion and then a second explosion occurred during the ceremony near the “Sahib Al-Zaman” Mosque in Kerman Province, where Soleimani lies.
In turn, the Iranian News Agency quoted an informed security source as saying that “the two explosions in Kerman were caused by the remote detonation of two explosive devices.”
Earlier, the semi-official Noor News Agency said that “several gas canisters exploded on the road leading to the cemetery,” while Iranian television quoted an unnamed official as saying that the Kerman explosions were a “terrorist attack.”
State television showed Red Crescent rescue workers treating the wounded at the site of the explosion.
The head of the Red Crescent in Kerman Province, Reza Falah, told state television, “Our rapid response teams are evacuating the injured… but there are waves of crowds blocking the roads.”
Sources indicate that a number of people were killed and injured in the explosion near the shrine of Qassem Soleimani #Iran They fell as a result of the stampede due to panic at the moment it occurred#News pic.twitter.com/NznqEzIuC8
– Al Jazeera Channel (@AJArabic) January 3, 2024
Convictions
In the first official response, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi said that the Kerman explosions are a new conspiracy to which our forces will respond overwhelmingly and urgently.
For his part, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said, “Revenge against those behind the terrorist attack in Kerman is inevitable and definitive.”
Iranian Vice President Mohammad Mokhber said, “The pure blood of innocent people among our people was spilled in Kerman by the agents of the Zionist entity and its supporters.”
On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also offered his condolences to the Iranian people for the victims of the Kerman attacks.
Erdogan said, in a blog post on the X social media platform, “We were deeply saddened by the despicable terrorist attacks that took place in the Iranian province of Kerman.”
On January 3, 2020, Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces, were killed as a result of an American air strike near Baghdad.
#killed #explosions #Soleimanis #grave #southern #Iran
2024-01-03 13:41:15
