There is mourning in Iran today after the explosions in Kerman. 84 people are said to have died in the attack. The regime calls it an act of terrorism and blames “enemies of the state.”
Iranian regime supporters have already found the culprits for yesterday’s attack in Kerman in the southeast of the country – even if no one has yet claimed responsibility. In chants at an event in Tehran, they wish Israel and the USA death. Fighting, they raise their fists in the air. Meanwhile, President Ebrahim Raisi comes to the lectern.
Behind him, an oversized picture of Qassem Soleimani is thrown on the wall. The former general of the powerful Revolutionary Guard was killed in a targeted US drone strike in Baghdad on January 3, 2020. Raisi takes up the memorial event in his hometown of Kerman.
A huge crowd of people are mourning at Soleimani’s holy grave these days, said Raisi. “And the (perpetrators) are trying to shock people with a barbaric act. You can be sure that they will pay a high price for this cruel crime.”
Death figures revised downwards
According to Iranian media, hundreds took part in a memorial service at the cemetery in Kerman, Soleimani’s hometown. Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi explained on the phone on Iranian television what happened next. “The first explosion occurred at 3 p.m.,” said Vahidi. “And when people tried to help the injured, there was the second explosion.”
The whole thing is only around 700 meters from Soleimani’s grave. More than 200 people are said to have been injured. There were 84 deaths, said the head of the national rescue service, Jafar Miadfar, according to the state news agency Irna. Health Minister Bahram Eynollahi had previously revised the death toll downwards from more than 100 to 95. Some names were accidentally registered twice. It is still the deadliest attack in Iran’s 45-year history since the Islamic Revolution.
Supreme Leader announces tough reaction
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed condolences to the families of the Kerman victims in a written message, blaming enemies of Iran and promising a tough response. He doesn’t write about what that might look like.
Soleimani’s successor in Iran’s elite Al-Quds Force, General Esmail Ghaani, speaks at the event in Tehran after President Raisi. In a green uniform, he explains with a raised finger that the murder of the “martyr Soleimani and that of martyrs like Sejed-Rasi Mousavi” as well as “crimes like in Kerman” show “how desperate the enemy now is.” But he doesn’t know that the Islamic Republic “with God’s help will not give up its path to uprooting the Zionist regime, no matter how hard the enemy tries.”
“All very targeted attacks”
Observers are discussing online whether Israel could really be behind the attack. They repeatedly suspect the Mossad secret service behind attacks, including on experts in the Iranian nuclear program and members of the Revolutionary Guard. In this way, one could show that Iran could be hit hard even in this special place. However, there are also doubts, explains Iran expert Ali Fathollah Nejad.
It was interesting to see that mostly civilians were hit, said Nejad – and the bombs were not planted in the innermost part of this ceremony for Soleimani. “And above all, it does not fit into the pattern of Israeli attacks in Iran.” Israel has repeatedly carried out attacks in Iran, “but actually against the regime and the regime’s infrastructure, against military and nuclear facilities. These were all very targeted attacks.”
The pattern with the two time-delayed explosions is more consistent with an Islamist terrorist organization such as the “Islamic State” (IS), observers said. There may also be attempts to drag Iran deeper into the Gaza war. Observers fear that Iranian retaliation could spread further in the Middle East.
Karin Senz, ARD Istanbul, tagesschau, January 4th, 2024 9:01 a.m