At least 103 people were killed and more than 180 injured in an attack on Wednesday near the tomb of Qassem Soleimani, architect of Iran’s military operations in the Middle East, whose death Iran is commemorating on the fourth anniversary, media reported of state. A double explosion took place near the Saheb al-Zaman mosque, where the tomb of General Soleimani is located, in Kerman, southern Iran. A compact crowd made up of representatives of the regime and anonymous people was gathered there for a ceremony.
The attack, described as an attack by Iranian officials and state media but which was not immediately claimed, comes in a very tense regional context since the start of the conflict almost three months ago. between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and the day after the elimination of a senior official of the Palestinian Islamist movement in an airstrike near Beirut. According to the official Iranian news agency IRNA, a first explosion occurred 700 meters from Soleimani’s tomb and the second one kilometer further.
“Severe response”
As night fell, many people returned to the Kerman cemetery chanting “Death to Israel!” and “Death to America!”. In Tehran, thousands of people gathered to pay tribute to Soleimani. “We condemn today’s terrible terrorist attack (…) I hope that the perpetrators of this crime will be identified and punished for their actions,” said Zeinab, General Soleimani’s daughter. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, promised a “severe response” to the attack, condemned as an “odious and cowardly” act by President Ebrahim Raïssi.
Russian President Vladimir Putin for his part judged him “shocking in his cruelty and cynicism” in a message to the two Iranian leaders. The Iranian government declared Thursday a “national day of mourning throughout the country”, state television also indicated. The attack, the deadliest in Iran since 1978, when an arson attack killed at least 377 people in a cinema in Abadan according to AFP archives, was quickly described as a “terrorist” act by Rahman Jalali, deputy governor of Kerman province, in southern Iran.
Remote control bombs
Qassem Soleimani was killed in January 2020, at the age of 62, during an American drone attack in Iraq. A key figure in the Iranian regime, he was also one of the country’s most popular public figures. According to the Iranian Tasnim agency, which cites well-informed sources, the explosions were caused by “bombs hidden in two bags”. “The perpetrators apparently activated the bombs via a remote control,” according to the same source. “We were walking towards the cemetery when a car suddenly stopped behind us and a trash can containing a bomb exploded,” said a witness quoted by the Isna news agency.
Among those killed were three rescue workers who rushed to the area after the first explosion, according to the Iranian Red Crescent. The Isna agency, which quotes the mayor of Kerman, Said Tabrizi, explains that the explosions occurred ten minutes apart. Videos posted on social media showed participants desperately trying to leave the site as security personnel cordoned off the area. In other videos, people can be seen running, panicked and disoriented. Shortly after the explosions, rescuers were hard at work on site. Numerous ambulances were also on the scene.
“Living Martyr”
Iran has already been the scene of attacks and bombings that have left dozens dead, several of which have been claimed by groups described as “terrorists” by Tehran. In 2019, a suicide car bomb attack on a Revolutionary Guard bus killed 27 soldiers in southeastern Iran. This attack was then claimed by Jaish al-Adl, a jihadist group formed in 2012.
Qassem Soleimani led the Quds Force, the external operations arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, overseeing military operations throughout the Middle East. Declared a “living martyr” by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while he was still alive, Soleimani was considered a hero for his role in the defeat of the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq and Syria.
In the eyes of many Iranians, its military and strategic prowess helped avert the multi-ethnic disintegration of neighboring countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. Long considered a sworn enemy by the United States and its allies, Soleimani has been one of the region’s most important power brokers, setting Iran’s political and military agenda in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. . , according to observers.