©ATTA KENARE - AFP
A pair of bomb explosions on Wednesday, claimed the lives of at least 103 individuals in Iran. They tore through a gathering commemorating the fourth anniversary of the death of Revolutionary Guards General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US strike. State media provided the reported details of the tragic incident.
Twin bomb blasts killed at least 103 people in Iran on Wednesday, ripping through a crowd commemorating Revolutionary Guards general Qassem Soleimani four years after his death in a US strike, state media reported.
The two explosions -- unclaimed but labelled a "terrorist attack" by state media and regional authorities -- came amid high Middle East tensions over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the killing of a Hamas senior leader in Lebanon on Tuesday.
The blasts, about 15 minutes apart, struck near the Martyrs Cemetery at the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque in Kerman, Soleimani's southern hometown, as supporters gathered to mark his killing in a 2020 US drone strike in Baghdad.
"The number of people killed rose to 103 following the deaths of people injured during the terrorist explosions," said the official IRNA news agency, while state television reported 211 wounded, some in critical condition.
Among those killed were three paramedics who rushed to the scene after the first explosion, said Iran's Red Crescent.
IRNA said the first explosion took place around 700 meters (yards) from Soleimani's grave, while the other was around one kilometer away.
Tasnim news agency, quoting what it called informed sources, said "two bags carrying bombs went off" and "the perpetrators... apparently detonated the bombs by remote control".
Online footage showed panicked crowds scrambling to flee as security personnel cordoned off the area.
State television showed bloodied victims lying on the ground and ambulances and rescue personnel racing to help them.
"We were walking towards the cemetery when a car suddenly stopped behind us and a waste bin containing a bomb exploded," an eyewitness was quoted saying by the ISNA news agency.
Soleimani headed the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, overseeing military operations across the Middle East.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences over Wednesday's twin blasts.
The blasts came a day after Hamas number two Saleh Al-Arouri -- an Iran ally -- was killed in a strike, which Lebanese officials blamed on Israel, on a southern Beirut suburb that is a stronghold of Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
Twin bomb blasts killed at least 103 people in Iran on Wednesday, ripping through a crowd commemorating Revolutionary Guards general Qassem Soleimani four years after his death in a US strike, state media reported.
The two explosions -- unclaimed but labelled a "terrorist attack" by state media and regional authorities -- came amid high Middle East tensions over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the killing of a Hamas senior leader in Lebanon on Tuesday.
The blasts, about 15 minutes apart, struck near the Martyrs Cemetery at the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque in Kerman, Soleimani's southern hometown, as supporters gathered to mark his killing in a 2020 US drone strike in Baghdad.
"The number of people killed rose to 103 following the deaths of people injured during the terrorist explosions," said the official IRNA news agency, while state television reported 211 wounded, some in critical condition.
Among those killed were three paramedics who rushed to the scene after the first explosion, said Iran's Red Crescent.
IRNA said the first explosion took place around 700 meters (yards) from Soleimani's grave, while the other was around one kilometer away.
Tasnim news agency, quoting what it called informed sources, said "two bags carrying bombs went off" and "the perpetrators... apparently detonated the bombs by remote control".
Online footage showed panicked crowds scrambling to flee as security personnel cordoned off the area.
State television showed bloodied victims lying on the ground and ambulances and rescue personnel racing to help them.
"We were walking towards the cemetery when a car suddenly stopped behind us and a waste bin containing a bomb exploded," an eyewitness was quoted saying by the ISNA news agency.
Soleimani headed the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, overseeing military operations across the Middle East.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences over Wednesday's twin blasts.
The blasts came a day after Hamas number two Saleh Al-Arouri -- an Iran ally -- was killed in a strike, which Lebanese officials blamed on Israel, on a southern Beirut suburb that is a stronghold of Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
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