(UnitedVoice.com) – January 3rd marked the fourth anniversary of Major General Qasem Soleimani’s assassination. Thousands of mourners gathered in Central Iran to honor the fallen terrorist. Dozens were left dead after explosions rocked the city.
Two blasts rocked the city of Kerman, where throngs of people gathered to honor Soleimani. The general of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed by a US drone strike in 2020 as his vehicle traveled along a service road near Baghdad International Airport. Former President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of the man who reportedly played a part in the deaths of Americans. Iran retaliated by attacking a US-occupied base in Iraq and injuring American soldiers.
According to reports, at least 95 people were killed, and 211 were injured. Originally, reports indicated that 103 people died, but those numbers were lowered after officials discovered repeated names on the list. The explosions occurred about a half-mile from where Soleimani was buried on the road where the graveyard is located. The blasts occurred about 20 minutes apart. The first explosion was allegedly caused by a bomb inside a car. It appeared that someone had detonated it remotely.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi blamed Israel for the explosions. He said that the “Zionist regime” was going to “pay a heavy price for this crime and the crimes you have committed.” He went on to say the punishment was going to be “regrettable and severe.”
The Israeli military has not commented on the attack.
According to The Washington Post, an unnamed senior official with President Joe Biden’s administration spoke to reporters and said the bombings resembled a terrorist attack carried out by an insurgent group, like the Islamic State. The official said the US has seen the terrorist organization perpetrate similar attacks in the past. They went on to say that it’s the government’s “going assumption at the moment.”
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