2024 Kerman bombings - Misplaced Pages

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2024 Kerman bombings
The site of the bombings on the route towards the Martyrs' Cemetery with the dome of the Saheb al-Zaman mosque visible in the background
Location	Kerman, Iran
Date	3 January 2024 15:50–16:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)
Attack type	Bombing
Deaths	84
Injured	284
Perpetrators	Islamic State (claimed responsibility)
Motive	Anti-Shia sentiment

On 3 January 2024, a commemorative ceremony marking the assassination of Qasem Soleimani at his tomb in eastern Kerman, Iran, was disrupted by two bomb explosions. The attacks killed at least 84 people and injured 284 others. The Iranian government declared the bombings a terrorist attack, making it the deadliest such incident in the country since the Cinema Rex attack of 1978. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Background

Further information: Assassination of Qasem Soleimani, Funeral of Qasem Soleimani, and Iran–Israel proxy conflict

On 3 January 2020, General Qasem Soleimani was killed in a drone strike in Iraq by the United States. Soleimani was the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Soleimani held a position of significant influence in Iran, widely considered the second most powerful figure in the country after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. As leader of the Quds Force, the overseas operations arm of the IRGC, he played a key role in shaping Iranian policy across the region. Soleimani was responsible for overseeing clandestine missions and providing guidance, funding, weapons, intelligence, and logistical support to allied governments and armed groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.

During the burial procession for Soleimani in Kerman on 7 January 2020, a stampede occurred, killing at least 50 mourners and causing injuries to over 200 individuals. The 2024 attack came amidst heightened tensions in the Middle East following the 2023 Israel–Hamas war and its spillover conflicts. A day before the bombings, an Israeli drone strike in Lebanon killed Hamas's deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri, while a week prior, an Israeli airstrike killed Iranian general Sayyed Razi Mousavi in Syria. Into the 2020s, the Islamic State and other Sunni extremist groups have launched similar attacks in the Shiite-majority country.

Bombings

The twin explosions struck a procession going towards Soleimani's tomb in the Golzar Shohada cemetery, around the Saheb al-Zaman mosque, to commemorate the fourth anniversary of his death. The first explosion occurred 700 metres from Soleimani's grave near a parking lot, while the second occurred one kilometre away at Shohada Street, where many had fled. The explosives were placed in such a manner as to prevent their detection at the security gates. The explosions occurred between 10 and 20 minutes apart. According to Iranian media reports, the attack was carried out using two briefcase bombs placed at the entrance that were detonated remotely. A witness said one of the bombs was placed inside a trash bin. However, the state news agency IRNA reported on 4 January that investigators suspected that the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers. The deputy governor of Kerman province said the incident was a terrorist attack.

At least 84 people were killed and at least another 284 were injured, 27 of them critically. The dead included three paramedics who responded to the site of the first explosion and were caught in the second blast. Most of the casualties were believed to have been caused by the second explosion. Several of the injured were trampled in the panic that followed the explosions.

Aftermath

Iranian state TV displayed Red Crescent rescuers providing assistance to injured individuals at the ceremony. Several Iranian news agencies reported a higher count of wounded individuals. Reza Fallah, the head of the provincial Red Crescent, stated that their rapid response teams were evacuating the injured, but faced challenges due to waves of crowds obstructing roads. Hospitals in Kerman and surrounding areas were placed on alert to treat victims.

In the evening following the explosion, crowds gathered at the Golzar Shohada cemetery chanting "Death to Israel" and "Death to America".

Reactions

Domestic

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, pledged a “hard response” to the attack and declared that those responsible "will be the definite target of repression and just punishment from now on".

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi cancelled a scheduled visit to Turkey and declared a national day of mourning for the victims of the attacks on 4 January. Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi vowed an imminent response for the responsible parties. In his visit to the scene, FARAJA head Brigadier General Ahmad-Reza Radan vowed to uproot terrorists.

International

Countries

Russian president Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to the victims of the attacks, calling it "shocking in cruelty and cynicism". Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed his condolences to the "friendly and brotherly" people of Iran via a social media post. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani strongly condemned "inhuman terrorist attacks" and said "Pakistan stands in solidarity with Iran at this hour of grief". The foreign ministries of Iraq, Armenia and Azerbaijan expressed support for the Iranian people.

Supranational organizations

The United Nations and the European Union also condemned the attack.

Militant groups

The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said the victims of the bombings were "martyrs who died on the same road, cause and battle that was led by" Soleimani. The Houthi movement in Yemen also condemned the attacks, calling the "criminal bombings" an "extension of all the crimes that attempted to undermine the Islamic Republic, its role in confronting global arrogance, its adoption of the nation’s central cause, and its support for the resistance forces in Palestine and Lebanon.”

Responsibility

Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi blamed Israel for the attack, and warned "the Zionist regime" that it will "pay the price for this crime and other crimes". Vice President Mohammad Mokhber and Expediency Discernment Council member General Mohsen Rezaee also blamed Israel for the bombings. The United States said there is no reason to believe Israel was involved in the bombing.

Iranian-American journalist and activist, Masih Alinejad, claimed the bombings were a false flag operation to blame the United States or Israel, pointing to the Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 shootdown and stating "that the Islamic Republic has experienced many violent episodes by internal groups to put the blame on Israel or America." Likewise, an Iran scholar at Tel Aviv’s Institute for National Security Studies, Beni Sabti, noted government officials as well as Soleimani’s closest relatives and associates, including his daughter Zeinab, were nowhere near the prominent event, raising suspicion they may have been warned of a pending attack. Iran International confirmed Soleimani’s daughter Zeinab was in Tehran at the time of the attack. Former Iran national football team captain Ali Karimi also claimed it was a false flag operation.

According to CNN, analysts and a United States official speculated that the blast had the hallmarks of a terrorist attack, similar to those of ISIS in the past. According to NBC News, four current and former U.S. officials did not believe Israel was behind the attack, with two of the officials stating the U.S. was also not responsible. The former British ambassador to Iran, Rob Macaire, told the BBC that it was not clear who was behind the bombings. The US State Department, through its spokesperson Matt Miller, stated that it had "no reason to believe that Israel was involved." It also rejected suggestions of US involvement, calling such allegations "ridiculous"