Daesh has claimed responsibility for two explosions that killed at least 84 people and wounded scores at a memorial for top anti-terror commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman.
In a statement posted on its affiliate Telegram channels, the terrorist group said two members had detonated their explosive belts in the crowd which had gathered at a cemetery for the anniversary of the US assassination of Gen. Soleimani.
Earlier, an unnamed source told the official news agency IRNA that the first explosion at the cemetery in Kerman, Gen. Soleimani’s hometown, “was the result of a suicide bomber’s action”.
“The suicide bomber in the first incident was a man who was completely dismembered as a result of the explosion and the identification of the suicide bomber is under investigation,” it said.
“The cause of the second blast was most likely the same,” the source told IRNA.
The United Nations Security Council in a statement condemned Wednesday’s “cowardly terrorist attack” in Kerman and sent its condolences to the victims’ families and the Iranian government.
Iran observed a day of mourning Thursday for those killed in the terrorist blasts. People gathered at dozen cities across Iran on Thursday, chanting: “Death to Israel” and “Death to America”.
Meanwhile, Iranians prepared for mass protests after weekly prayers across the nation on Friday, when funerals will be held for the victims.
Earlier Thursday, Iran’s top security body tasked the country’s intelligence, security and law enforcement organizations to promptly identify and punish those behind Wednesday’s bombings that killed scores of people at a ceremony to commemorate the most prominent anti-terror figure in the region.
The Supreme National Security Council held an ad hoc session on Thursday to hear and review the reports of the organizations, deciding that “the intelligence agencies should quickly track down the clues obtained from the terrorist operation and identify and introduce its mercenary perpetrators”.
“The role of the corrupt minds who always supported the terrorists in targeting innocent women, men and children in different parts of the world, should be accurately identified and reported in this incident,” it said.
“The relevant institutions should take action to predict and prevent and deal decisively with the perpetrators and justly punish the perpetrators or supporters of this crime,” it added.
