Authorities say more than 70 people have been killed in two explosions in the Iranian city of Kerman. It would be a terrorist attack.
The explosions happened during a ceremony commemorating top commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in an attack by the United States in 2020. The explosions took place at the cemetery where Soleimani is buried.
According to a local official in Kerman province, these are “terrorist attacks”. A spokesman for Iran’s emergency services said 73 people were killed and another 170 injured.
According to Reuters, Iranian state television showed Red Crescent rescuers tending to the wounded. Hundreds of Iranians are said to have attended the ceremony.
Soleimani was a top figure within the military apparatus of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was specially charged with covert operations and missions abroad, such as in Iraq and Syria. Former President Donald Trump had Soleimani killed with, among other things, a missile and a drone when the top commander drove near Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020.
