At least 103 killed as twin blasts rock Iran

On Wednesday, a somber commemoration for a revered Iranian general turned into a scene of unimaginable horror as two bombs ripped through the crowd, killing at least 103 people and wounding over 188. The attack, the deadliest in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, sent shockwaves through the nation and heightened tensions in the already volatile Middle East.

The explosions rocked the city of Kerman, situated roughly 820 kilometers southeast of Tehran, as thousands gathered to mark the fourth anniversary of General Qassem Soleimani’s killing in a US drone strike. The first blast detonated around 3 pm, followed by a second explosion 20 minutes later, targeting emergency personnel responding to the initial tragedy.

While no group immediately claimed responsibility, the attack’s brutality drew parallels to past militant operations. Officials remained tight-lipped about the specifics, although Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi confirmed the details of the blasts and casualty figures.

Iran’s complex web of regional alliances and historical conflicts leaves a long list of potential perpetrators. Exile groups, militant organizations, and even state actors could be implicated, though the modus operandi of a delayed second explosion aligns more closely with militant tactics.

This tragedy unfolded against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza and heightened tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border. Hezbollah and the Houthis, both backed by Iran, have launched attacks against Israel in recent weeks, further escalating regional anxieties.

Soleimani, revered as a national hero in Iran, was the architect of the country’s regional military strategy and a key figure in securing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Relatively unknown in Iran until the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, Soleimani’s popularity and mystique grew after American officials called for his killing over his help arming militants with penetrating roadside bombs that killed and maimed US troops.

A decade and a half later, Soleimani had become Iran’s most recognisable battlefield commander, ignoring calls to enter politics but growing as powerful, if not more, than its civilian leadership. Ultimately, a drone strike launched by the Trump administration killed the general, part of escalating incidents that followed America’s 2018 unilateral withdrawal from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

Soleimani’s death has drawn large processions in the past. At his funeral in 2020, a stampede broke out in Kerman and at least 56 people were killed and more than 200 were injured as thousands thronged the procession. Otherwise, Kerman largely has been untouched in the recent unrest and attacks that have struck Iran. The city and province of the same name sits in Iran’s central desert plateau.

Until Wednesday, the deadliest attack to strike Iran since the revolution was the 1981 truck bombing of the Islamic Republican Party’s headquarters in Tehran. That attack killed at least 72 people, including the party’s leader, four government ministers, eight deputy ministers and 23 parliament members.

In 1978 just ahead of the revolution, an intentionally set fire at the Cinema Rex in Abadan killed hundreds of people.