A memorial in Iran commemorating the fourth anniversary of the death of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF) commander Qassem Soleimani was rocked by a pair of explosions that killed dozens of people.
Iranian Health Minister Bahram Eynollahi told state television that the death toll now stands at 95, a downward revision after Iranian state-run media outlets reported on Jan. 3 that as many as 103 people were killed in the pair of blasts. Mr. Eynollahi said up to 211 others were injured in the explosions, which occurred near the tomb of the deceased general in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman on Jan. 3.
The Iranian state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported that at least two blasts occurred near the memorial event, with the first going off about 700 meters (765 yards) from the commander’s tomb and the second going off about a kilometer (1,093 yards) away from the tomb.
Kerman’s deputy governor for security, Rahman Jalali, subsequently assessed that the blasts were the result of a terrorist attack.
The second explosion reportedly occurred about 20 minutes after the first. Terrorist organizations have been known to detonate a secondary explosive several minutes after an initial attack, maximizing casualties as emergency responders arrive at the scene.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the Jan. 3 explosions in Kerman. The Iranian government has also provided few additional details about who they believe is responsible for them.
Iran has previously been targeted by terrorist attacks launched by the ISIS terrorist group, including a combined suicide bombing and mass shooting attack in the capital city of Tehran on June 7, 2017. That attack saw one group of terrorists open fire at an Iranian parliamentary building while a second group of terrorists opened fire at the Mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini before detonating suicide bombs at both locations, killing at least 17 people and wounding dozens more.
ISIS claimed responsibility for another attack in the southwestern Iranian city of Shiraz on Oct. 26, 2022. The incident saw a lone gunman enter the Shah Cheragh mosque, a popular Shia pilgrimage site, before opening fire with a rifle, killing at least 13 and wounding dozens more.
The Iranian government has also battled with dissident Shia factions such as the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK).
The Israeli government has been suspected of carrying out sabotage operations and targeted assassinations in the past over Iran’s nuclear program, but it hasn’t carried out mass casualty bombings. Iranian security chief Ali Shamkhani alleged that the Israeli government and MEK members coordinated the Nov. 27, 2020, assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist. MEK denied the allegation.
Blasts Come on Anniversary of the Soleimani Strike
The Jan. 3 blasts in Kerman came as crowds of Iranians gathered to memorialize Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike, ordered by then-President Donald Trump, in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 3, 2020.Soleimani was the head of the IRGC-QF, which specializes in terrorist operations outside of Iran, including providing for various Shia factions throughout the Middle East. The United States has designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and many of its partner Shia factions as terrorist organizations.
Soleimani had arrived in Baghdad in 2020 just days after an attack on a U.S. airbase in Iraq that resulted in the death of a U.S. civilian contractor. The U.S. military had suspected that members of Kata‘ib Hezbollah were responsible for the attack. The Kata’ib Hezbollah is another U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.
Upon arriving in Baghdad on Jan. 3, 2020, Soleimani embarked on a motorcade alongside Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was commander of the Kata'ib Hezbollah organization. Soleimani, al-Muhandis, and several other members of their security detail were killed by missiles fired from a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone.
Following the U.S. strike, the Iranian government responded by launching multiple ballistic missiles targeting U.S. forces in Iraq on Jan. 8, 2020. One hundred and ten U.S. personnel were wounded in the Iranian missile attack, with many sustaining traumatic brain injuries, though no U.S. personnel were killed.
The Iranian government has repeatedly asserted its right to carry out additional retaliatory actions against the United States over the killing of Soleimani.
In August 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against a suspected IRGC member, alleging he worked to recruit people within the United States to kill President Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, likely in retaliation for Soleimani’s death. The suspected IRGC member, Shahram Poursafi, remains at large.
The Iranian government has also called on the International Criminal Police Organization to issue an arrest warrant for President Trump over the January 2020 airstrike.
On Jan. 2, the Iranian mission to the United Nations again insisted that the Iran government has a legitimate right under international law to pursue legal proceedings against those responsible for killing Soleimani.
