By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
TEHRAN (Worthy News) – The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for bombings in Iran that killed nearly 100 people.
The group, also known as IS or ISIS, spoke about Wednesday’s bombings at the cemetery of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force.
The two bombs went off during a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of his assassination in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq. Wednesday’s attacks killed at least 84 people and injured many more, officials said. Other sources gave a slightly higher death toll.
Authorities said the first explosion happened about 700 meters (765 yards) from Soleimani’s grave in the Kerman Martyrs Cemetery near a parking lot in Kerman, about 820 kilometers (510 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran.
The crowd then rushed west along Shohada Street, where the second blast struck about 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) from the grave. Bodies were strewn in the street, with some tending to survivors while many ran away in panic, witnesses saw.
Islamic State, known for numerous terror attacks as part of its declared Islamist agenda, posted a statement on its affiliate social platform Telegram channels.
The attack came as tensions already rose in the Middle East with fighting raging between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, and Hamas accusing Israel of launching a drone attack on Tuesday that killed its deputy head in Beirut. That attack saw limited casualties in a densely populated neighborhood of the Lebanese capital.
‘EVIL ENEMIES’
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attributed the attacks to “evil and criminal enemies” of the Islamic Republic and pledged a “harsh response.”
Earlier statements from Mohammad Jamshidi, President Ebrahim Raisi’s deputy chief of staff for political affairs, and Esmail Qaani, the current Quds Force commander, suggested that they believed the recent attack in Kerman, Iran, was “orchestrated by the United States and Israel.”
Jamshidi specifically mentioned that “terrorism” is viewed as a tool in this context. There was concern that Iran would use the attacks as a pretext to step up military strikes against Israel and the United States.
Tehran has been backing militia such as Hezbollah, Houthis, and Hamas, who seek the destruction of the Jewish nation.
It was not immediately clear how the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for Wednesday’s attack would impact Tehran’s strategy. However, it added another element to armed conflicts in an already turbulent region.
Experts say the group’s attacks in Iran are meant to showcase its credentials as “a defender of Sunnis everywhere” and a “vanguard of the struggle against the Shia,” the Islam branch that most Iranians observe.
It comes as even Saudi Arabia and other Sunni powers opposed Iran for how it wields influence in the Middle East, a view shared by the Islamic State group.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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