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The balance in Iran deepens/ Over 100 killed in the ceremony for General Soleimani

2024-01-03 17:09:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The balance in Iran deepens/ Over 100 killed in the ceremony for General

Iranian officials said two consecutive explosions within 15 minutes at a cemetery in Kerman, Iran, killed 100 people and injured 170 others. The explosions targeted a memorial ceremony on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the death of General Qassem Soleimani. The latter was killed in 2020 in Iraq during an American drone attack. The event comes amid increased tensions in the Middle East due to the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, which Iranian state media called a "terrorist" attack.

While Israel has carried out attacks on Iran related to its nuclear program, it has carried out assassinations with clear targets rather than bombings that have targeted mass casualties. In the past, Sunni extremist groups, including the Islamic State group, have carried out large-scale attacks killing civilians in Shiite-majority Iran, but not in Kerman, a city about 820 kilometers southeast of Tehran, which has been relatively quiet. quiet

Bomb explosions near the grave of the general in Iran, 73 victims
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Iran has also faced mass protests in recent years, including those following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in 2022 who was detained by the so-called morality police. The country has also been targeted by exile groups, with attacks dating back to the unrest that followed the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Footage from the scene appeared to show that the second blast occurred about 15 minutes after the first. A second, subsequent blast is often used by militants to hit emergency personnel responding to the scene and cause more casualties.

Soleimani was known as the architect of Iran's regional military activities and is considered a national icon among supporters of Iran's theocracy. He helped secure the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad after protests against him during what is known as the Arab Spring of 2011 turned into a civil war and later a regional war that continues today.

Soleimani was relatively unknown in Iran until the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. Soleimani's popularity and mystique grew after U.S. officials sought his assassination in connection with helping arm militants with explosive devices that were used to killed and maimed American troops./ VOA