Key takeaways:
- At least 103 people were killed and 141 injured in two explosions at a memorial event for Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Kerman, Iran.
- The blasts occurred minutes apart at the Kerman Martyrs Cemetery, located about 510 miles southeast of the capital, Tehran.
- Iranian state media called the attack “terroristic” and no group has yet claimed responsibility.
At least 103 people were killed and 141 injured in two explosions that rocked a memorial event for Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Kerman, Iran on Wednesday.
The blasts occurred minutes apart at the Kerman Martyrs Cemetery, located about 510 miles southeast of the capital, Tehran. Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, in January 2020, was buried in the cemetery.
The first blast struck around 2,300 feet from Soleimani’s grave, while the second explosion was around 2,000 feet away, according to the semi-official news agency ISNA.
Iranian state media called the attack “terroristic” and no group has yet claimed responsibility. Sunni extremist groups, including the Islamic State (ISIS) group, have conducted large-scale attacks in the past that killed civilians in Shiite-majority Iran, though not in relatively recent years.
Israel has carried out attacks in Iran over its nuclear program, but these have been targeted assassinations, not mass-casualty bombings. The attack in Kerman comes as the Middle East remains on edge over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
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