A video of the attack has surfaced online.
New Delhi:
Twin bomb blasts on Wednesday killed at least 91 people in southern Iran, many of whom were part of a crowd commemorating former Revolutionary Guards chief Qasem Soleimani four years after he died in a US strike.
This attack unfolded during a memorial ceremony near the tomb of Qasem Soleimani, former chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards who was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq in January 2020.
READ | Who Was Qasem Soleimani, Iranian Whose Grave Was Struck By Twin Blasts
A video of the attack has surfaced online, reportedly showing the moment one of the bombs went off. The video opens on a busy street, with a bus slowly making a turn. Right then a massive blast takes place in the background filling the area with dust and smoke.
#Watch: First video capturing the moment of the second terrorist explosion in Kerman, Iran. pic.twitter.com/uvsKlo59Ms
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) January 6, 2024
This attack stands as the deadliest in Iran since 1978, when arson claimed the lives of more than 370 individuals trapped in a cinema in Abadan, in the country’s southwest.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombing. In a statement, the terrorist group claimed that two of its members had “activated their explosive belts” amidst “a large gathering of apostates, near the grave of their leader.”
Iranian authorities said on Friday that “one of the suicide bombers” was “of Tajik nationality.” The identity of the second attacker remains under investigation. At least 11 suspects have been apprehended across six Iranian provinces in connection with the attack, according to the ministry.
