Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi participated in the funerals of 89 individuals who lost their lives in twin blasts that occurred on Wednesday in the southern city of Kerman and were claimed by the Islamic State group.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi joined on Friday mourners in the southern city of Kerman for the funerals of 89 people killed in the twin blasts that occurred on Wednesday and were claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group, state media reported.
Suicide bombers struck crowds gathered near the tomb of Revolutionary Guards general Qassem Soleimani to mark the fourth anniversary of his killing in Baghdad in a targeted US drone strike.
The attack killed 89 people, including many women and children, and at least a dozen Afghans, state television said.
“We will find you wherever you are,” Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami said at the funeral ceremony, addressing the bombers’ accomplices.
Raisi vowed to avenge the killings, adding: “The time and place will be determined by our forces.”
Iran’s intelligence ministry said that one of the suicide bombers was a Tajik citizen, while the identity of the other has yet to be determined.
“Nine other members of the terrorist group’s support network and its associates were identified and arrested in six provinces,” the ministry said, in reference to IS.
Security forces also arrested two people on suspicion of putting up the suicide bombers in the Kerman suburbs, it added. The location where they were staying revealed the presence of ammunition, explosive vests, and remote control devices.
‘Mercenaries’
In a statement published Thursday on Telegram, the Islamic State group said two of its members “activated their explosives vests” at the gathering.
On Friday, rallies took place in major cities across Iran, including Tehran, Tabriz, Ahvaz and Bandar Abbas, “to condemn the terrorist attack,” state media said.
Despite the claim from IS, officials have continued to accuse Iran’s arch foes Israel and the United States of complicity in the attack.
IS “has disappeared nowadays,” Salami said, adding that its remaining jihadists “only act as mercenaries” for US and Israeli interests.
The United States firmly rejected any insinuation linking it or its ally Israel to the bombings. Meanwhile, Israel opted for silence, refraining from making any comments on the matter.
In his address, President Raisi praised Palestinian militant group Hamas for its deadly October 7 attacks on Israel which triggered a devastating retaliatory offensive against the Gaza Strip.
“We know that the Al-Aqsa Flood operation will bring about the end of the Zionist (Israeli) regime,” he said.
Mourners waved the national flag and the yellow flag of Iran’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah, alongside portraits of Soleimani.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
