TEHRAN – The group Islamic State claimed responsibility this Thursday for Wednesday’s attack in southern Iran that left 84 dead, according to the latest toll lowered by the Iranian authorities.
The jihadist organization assured on its Telegram channels that two of its members “activated their explosive belt” in the middle of “a large crowd of apostates, near the tomb of their leader Qasem Soleimani yesterday in Kerman, southern Iran.” .
The state agency IRNA, based on “an informed source”, had already indicated that the first explosion was caused by a kamikaze, whose body was found in pieces.
The second explosion is being investigated, but was also likely caused by a suicide bomber, according to IRNA.
Iran reduces death toll
After having said that there were 95 dead and 181 injured, Tehran lowered the death toll.
“According to the latest statistics, 84 people died,” the head of the country’s emergency services, Jafar Miadfar, announced on state television.
The attack left “284 injured,” of whom “195 remain hospitalized,” Miadfar added.
Scheduled for Friday, the public funerals of the victims “have been suspended by decision” of the authorities and only relatives will be able to participate in them, said the governor of Kerman.
The attack – two explosions with an interval of 15 minutes – occurred near the Saheb al Zaman mosque in Kerman (south), where the tomb of General Qasem Soleimani is located, responsible for Iranian military operations in the Middle East, who died during a US attack in Iraq on January 3, 2020.
The bombs exploded as a crowd commemorated the fourth anniversary of his death.
Attack in full tension
The Minister of the Interior, Ahmad Vahidi, warned however that the toll could still increase, since some injured are in a “critical condition.”
The attack occurred amidst tension in the Middle East and a day after the number two of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Saleh Al Aruri, an ally of Iran, died in an attack in Beirut, which Lebanese authorities attributed to Israel.
Tehran declared a “day of national mourning” this Thursday, after the bloodiest attack in the country since 1978, when a criminal fire caused at least 377 deaths in a cinema in Abadan (southwest), according to files.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised a “tough response” and other Iranian leaders accused Israel and the United States before the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Jewish State, Iran’s arch-enemy, did not comment on the attack and claimed to “be focused on the fighting” in Gaza.
The UN Security Council “strongly condemned the cowardice of the terrorist attack.”
Source: With information from AFP
