Breaking News! Iran Says 103 people killed, 141 wounded in blasts

[Lion of Shia]

 

 

The Associated Press

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Iran says at least 103 people killed, 141 wounded in blasts at ceremony honoring slain general

Story by By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press  • 4h

 

 

 

 

 

The Associated Press

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Iran says at least 103 people killed, 141 wounded in blasts at ceremony honoring slain general

Story by By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press  • 4h

 

 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two explosions minutes apart Wednesday in Iran targeted a commemoration for a prominent general slain in a U.S. drone strike in 2020, killing at least 103 people and wounding at least 141 others as the Middle East remains on edge over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

 

 

 

No group immediately claimed responsibility for what Iranian state media called a “terroristic" attack shortly after the blasts in Kerman, about 820 kilometers (510 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran.

While Israel has carried out attacks in Iran over its nuclear program, it has conducted targeted assassinations, not mass-casualty bombings. Sunni extremist groups including the Islamic State group have conducted large-scale attacks in the past that killed civilians in Shiite-majority Iran, though not in relatively peaceful Kerman.

 

People take care of injured after an explosion in Kerman, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Explosions at an event honoring a prominent Iranian general slain in a U.S. airstrike in 2020 have killed at least 73 people and wounded over 170 others, state-run media in Iran reported Wednesday. (AP Photo/Mahdi Karbakhsh Ravari)© Provided by The Associated Press

Iran also has seen mass protests in recent years, including those over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in 2022. The country also has been targeted by exile groups in attacks dating back to the turmoil surrounding its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The blasts struck an event marking the the fourth anniversary of the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force. who died in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq in January 2020. The explosions occurred near his grave site in Kerman,

 

People are seen after an explosion in Kerman, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Explosions at an event honoring a prominent Iranian general slain in a U.S. airstrike in 2020 have killed at least 73 people and wounded over 170 others, state-run media in Iran reported Wednesday. (AP Photo/Mahdi Karbakhsh Ravari)© Provided by The Associated Press

Iranian state television quoted Babak Yektaparast, a spokesman for the country’s emergency services, for the casualty figure. Authorities said some people were injured while fleeing afterward.

Footage suggested that the second blast occurred some 15 minutes after the first. A delayed second explosion is often used by militants to target emergency personnel responding to the scene and inflict more casualties.

 

Related video: Tensions in Middle East rise as Iranian-backed militants increase military activity (NBC News)

NBC News White House correspondent Monica Alba joins us now

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Tensions in Middle East rise as Iranian-backed militants increase military activity

 

People could be heard screaming in state TV footage.

Kerman’s deputy governor, Rahman Jalali, called the attack “terroristic,” without elaborating. Iran has multiple foes who could be behind the assault, including exile groups, militant organizations and state actors. Iran has supported Hamas as well as the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

 

This is a locator map for Iran with its capital, Tehran. (AP Photo)© Provided by The Associated Press

Soleimani was the architect of Iran’s regional military activities and is hailed as a national icon among supporters of Iran’s theocracy. He also helped secure Syrian President Bashar Assad's government after the 2011 Arab Spring protests against him turned into a civil, and later a regional, war that still rages today.

 

 

 

 

 

Relatively unknown in Iran until the 2003 U.S. 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 U.S. troops.

A decade and a half later, Soleimani had become Iran’s most recognizable 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.

 

Varias personas son vistas después de una explosión en Kerman, Irán, el miércoles 3 de enero de 2024. (AP Foto/Mahdi Karbakhsh Ravari)© Provided by The Associated Press

 

People are seen after an explosion in Kerman, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Explosions at an event honoring a prominent Iranian general slain in a U.S. airstrike in 2020 have killed at least 73 people and wounded over 170 others, state-run media in Iran reported Wednesday. (AP Photo/Mahdi Karbakhsh Ravari)© Provided by The Associated Press

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Diaz]

It has risen to 200+ martyrs. May allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) curse the people who did it.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1pS6BYAlrw/?igsh=MWZ1Ym1qbWN3ZngyYQ==

[Kev]

We will see but my guess is the war criminal government of Netanyahu is behind this. They are trying to provoke Iran hoping that they can get the US directly involved. 

[Diaz]

26 minutes ago, Kev said:

We will see but my guess is the war criminal government of Netanyahu is behind this. They are trying to provoke Iran hoping that they can get the US directly involved. 

Us will eat a lot of s if they joined the war. 

[Ashvazdanghe]

13 hours ago, Lion of Shia said:

honoring slain general

Salam 

Honoring Martyr general 

[Ali_Mehdi_]

Allah yer7amon

[Abu Hadi]

It looks like a Mossad Op. Zionists trying to force Iran to retaliate and then get US to fight another war for them

I doubt it will work though

Inna LilAh wa inna illayhi raje3oun

May Allah(سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) give sabr to families of Shuhada

Edited January 4 by Abu Hadi

[123xo]

We all know who is behind it. :((

[The Green Knight]

The way most people in the world are today anyone can pay them a dime and have them do anything. Except those who believe.

[Lion of Shia]

• Middle East

Islamic State claims responsibility for deadly Iran attack, Tehran vows revenge

By Parisa Hafezi, Elwely Elwelly and Clauda Tanios

January 4, 202411:02 AM CSTUpdated 2 hours ago

 

 

 

 

[1/3]People gather at the scene of explosions during a ceremony held to mark the death of late Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, in Kerman, Iran, January 3, 2024. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights

• Summary

• Islamic State claims responsibility for two blasts
• Elite Revolutionary Guards join calls for revenge
• Crowds chant slogans against U.S. and Israel
• Funerals, mass protests planned on Friday

DUBAI, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Islamic State claimed responsibility on Thursday for two explosions in Iran that killed nearly 100 people and wounded scores at a memorial for top commander Qassem Soleimani who was killed in Iraq in 2020 by a U.S. drone.

In a statement posted on its affiliate Telegram channels, the militant Sunni Muslim group said two IS members had detonated their explosive belts in the crowd which had gathered at the cemetery in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman on Wednesday for the anniversary of Soleimani's death.

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Tehran earlier blamed the explosions on "terrorists" and vowed revenge for the bloodiest such attacks since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The twin blasts also wounded 284 people, including women and children.

"A very strong retaliation will be meted out to them by the hands of the soldiers of Soleimani," Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber told reporters in Kerman.

Earlier, an unnamed source told the state news agency IRNA that the first explosion at the cemetery in Kerman, Soleimani's home town, "was the result of a suicide bomber's action".

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"The cause of the second blast was most likely the same," the source told IRNA.

The United Nations Security Council in a statement condemned Wednesday's "cowardly terrorist attack" in Kerman and sent its condolences to the victims' families and the Iranian government.

State TV showed crowds gathered at dozen cities across Iran, including Kerman, chanting: "Death to Israel" and "Death to America".

Iranian authorities have called for mass protests on Friday, when the funerals of the victims of the twin blasts will be held, state media reported.

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Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps described the attacks as a cowardly act "aimed at creating insecurity and seeking revenge against the nation's deep love and devotion to the Islamic Republic".

The Guards commander in Kerman denied state media reports of a shooting in Kerman on Thursday.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has condemned Wednesday's "heinous and inhumane crime". Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, vowed revenge for the bombings.

 

ISLAMIC STATE

In 2022 Islamic State claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a Shi'ite shrine in Iran which killed 15 people.

Earlier attacks claimed by Islamic State include twin bombings in 2017 which targeted Iran's parliament and the tomb of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The United States denied on Wednesday any involvement in the explosions and said it also had no reason to believe Israel was involved. It said the blasts appeared to represent "a terrorist attack" of the type carried out in the past by Islamic State.

Tehran often accuses its arch enemies, Israel and the United States, of backing anti-Iran militant groups that have carried out attacks against the Islamic Republic in the past. Baluchi militants and ethnic Arab separatists have also staged attacks in Iran.

The U.S. assassination of Soleimani in a Jan. 3, 2020, drone attack at Baghdad airport, and Tehran's retaliation - by attacking two Iraqi military bases that house U.S. troops - brought the United States and Iran close to full-blown conflict.

As chief commander of the elite Quds force, the overseas arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Soleimani ran clandestine operations abroad and was a key figure in Iran's longstanding campaign to drive U.S. forces from the Middle East.

Tensions between Iran and Israel, along with its ally the United States, have reached a new high over Israel's war on Iran-backed Hamas militants in Gaza in retaliation for their Oct. 7 rampage through southern Israel.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia have attacked ships they say have links to Israel in the entrance to the Red Sea, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

U.S. forces have come under attack from Iran-backed militants in Iraq and Syria over Washington's backing of Israel and have carried out their own retaliatory air strikes.

(This story has been refiled to restore dropped words 'in Iran' in paragraph 1)

Writing by Michael Georgy and Parisa Hafezi, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Gareth Jones

[Diaz]

After all these years ISIS attacked now? They are responsible for what happened today in iraq as well. This is a bring prove israhell sent them to attack Iran and iraq because they are scared. May allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) curse them.

[Kev]

3 hours ago, Diaz said:

After all these years ISIS attacked now? They are responsible for what happened today in iraq as well. This is a bring prove israhell sent them to attack Iran and iraq because they are scared. May allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) curse them.

I don't think it was just ISIS (if even at all). If ISIS actually did play a role, it would not be the first time that they were funded/used by someone to carry out their dirty work. Personally I still think that the criminal zionist government is behind this. They are trying real hard to provoke the Hezbollah army and Iran. First by the attack/assassination in Beirut and now the terror attack on Iran.

[Hasani Samnani]

Iran’s Tasnim News Agency published some new information regarding the alleged “ISIS” terrorist attack in Kerman:

 

“The ISIS statement to claim the attack was issued under the guidance of the Zionists.

 

Firstly, ISIS has never used the word "Iran" in their statements, they always call Iran "Persian province" or "Khorasan Province".

 

Secondly, it is noteworthy that there is no history of ISIS releasing images of its terrorist operatives with a censored face.

 

Third point is that ISIS never delays the release of responsibility statements for its operations by 30 hours. Instead, they prepare the pictures of the pledge of allegiance and the declaration of responsibility before each operation & publish them immediately after the execution of the operation.

 

Essentially, ISIS's method for conducting operations involves initial threats, followed by fatwas, and then the execution of operations, immediately accompanied by the release of responsibility statements.

However, in this operation, a terrorist act occurred first, followed by delayed fatwas, threats, and the delayed release of a responsibility statement!

 

The 4th point is the political literature of this statement, which differs significantly from ISIS's usual literature, indicating that the statement's author was by no means associated with ISIS.

 

In fact, the statement that ISIS published belatedly in accepting responsibility for the terrorist attack in Kerman was orchestrated by the Zionist regime's intelligence service. ISIS merely took charge of disseminating it through its official media channels."

 

Additionally the pic released by "Isis" used the Georgian calendar date and not Islamic calendar.

The two masked men, are not even wearing their shirts properly and were made to look like Hamas spokespeople with the their keffeyieh.

So this was sloppy attempt by the Zionists to eschew blame in front of the World, but at the same time sending a message to Iran.

Additionally one of their military spokespeople,  a few hours after the attack mentioned that they can attack their enemies anywhere from Gaza to Iran.

As soon as the Pentagon labeled this a possible Isis attack, within hours the Isis released their statement.

Additionally the majority of So called Isis forces are in the areas of Syria under or near American and Kurdish control.

The preponderance of evidence suggests Zionist managed terrorist event.  The killing of civilians is also identifying factor and the date being significant as a commemoration of prior Zionist attack means only an apologist will try to clear the obvious Zionist hand in this terrorist attack.

[123xo]

15 hours ago, Kev said:

I don't think it was just ISIS (if even at all). If ISIS actually did play a role, it would not be the first time that they were funded/used by someone to carry out their dirty work. Personally I still think that the criminal zionist government is behind this. They are trying real hard to provoke the Hezbollah army and Iran. First by the attack/assassination in Beirut and now the terror attack on Iran.

I thought ISIS is  zionist/US gov

[Ahmad8888]

8 hours ago, Hasani Samnani said:

Third point is that ISIS never delays the release of responsibility statements for its operations by 30 hours. Instead, they prepare the pictures of the pledge of allegiance and the declaration of responsibility before each operation & publish them immediately after the execution of the operation.

This is what bugged me, thank you for clarifying this.

[Ashvazdanghe]

15 hours ago, 123xo said:

I thought ISIS is  zionist/US gov

Salam there is a famous video that Trump has talked about creation of ISIS by Barack Obama & Hilary Clinton also there is another video which Nethanyahu has visited injured  ISIS fighters in an Israeli army (IDF) remote hospital which has been established nder guise of helping injured Syrian Arabs in civil war according to zionist propaganda 

 

Netanyahu visiting his Syrian terrorist in hospital - YouTube

From Zionist propganda

Quote

PM Netanyahu Visits IDF Base Treating Wounded from Syria

Netanyahu visits Syrians injured in civil war, blames Iran for ....

 

  

Quote

 

 

 

 

Quote

“I’ve predicted a lot of things, you have to say, including, ‘Get the oil, take the oil, keep the oil.’ Right? I’ve been saying that for three years, and everybody said, ‘Oh, I can’t do that. I mean, this is a sovereign country. There is no country!” Trump said.

“They’ve created Isis. Hillary Clinton created Isis with Obama,” Trump said.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/03/hillary-clinton-and-barack-obama-created-isis-says-donald-trump

 

12 hours ago, HusseinAbbas said:

This is what bugged me, thank you for clarifying this.

 

[Ashvazdanghe]

On 1/4/2024 at 4:05 PM, Abu Hadi said:

Inna LilAh wa inna illayhi raje3oun

May Allah(سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) give sabr to families of Shuhada

A billboard for a girl in a pink jacket with a heart earring on the occasion of the Kerman terrorist operation in Tehran has attracted the attention of the media.

Quote

According to the report of Hamshahri Online, it is written on this billboard: "I took up a weapon for a 2-year-old girl, a pink jacket with heart earrings..."

https://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news/821855/بیلبوردی-برای-دختر-کاپشن-صورتی-با-گوشواره-قلبی

 

 

 

[Ashvazdanghe]

Martyr Haj Qassem Soleimani: I never wanted to take up arms; I took up arms to fight the assassins.

 "I took up a weapon for a 2-year-old girl, a pink jacket with heart earrings..."

Quote

https://soleimani.ir/نماهنگ-سلاح-به-دست-گرفتم-برای-مقابله-ب/

https://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news/821855/بیلبوردی-برای-دختر-کاپشن-صورتی-با-گوشواره-قلبی

 

 

[Ashvazdanghe]

Photo/Reyhane Soltani, one-year-old martyr of Kerman terrorist attack (a pink jacket girl with heart earrings...")

Quote

 

https://www.mashreghnews.ir/photo/1562636/عکس-ریحانه-سلطانی-شهید-یک-ساله-حمله-تروریستی-کرمان

[Ashvazdanghe]

AI generated pic from a 2-year-old girl, a pink jacket with heart earrings..." 

Photo/artificial intelligence illustration of Shahideh pink jacket with heart earrings

Quote

https://akharinkhabar.ir/photo/9898499/عکس-تصویرسازی-هوش-مصنوعی-از-شهیده-کاپشن-صورتی-با-گوشواره-های-قلبی

[Ashvazdanghe]

Among the names of the martyrs of the terrorist incident in Kerman, the name "Rehane Soltani" is the most familiar. The same one-two-year-old girl with a pink jacket and heart earrings that her aunt asked Haj Qasim to hug in heaven.

https://www.iscaninfo.com/article/15061469/Body-parts--pink-jacket--heart-earrings--probably-two-years-old!

[Andaros]

I never saw the video at the time and I never needed to. 

As soon as I heard that Druze in Israel were attacking Israeli ambulances carrying wounded "Syrians" described as "rebels" from Syria we all knew why that was happening and why the "Syrians" and "rebels" were being attacked. Because they were attacking Druze in Syria just across the border and we all knew who they were.

 

[123xo]

3 hours ago, Ashvazdanghe said:

Salam there is a famous video that Trump has talked about creation of ISIS by Barack Obama & Hilary Clinton also there is another video which Nethanyahu has visited injured  ISIS fighters in an Israeli army (IDF) remote hospital which has been established nder guise of helping injured Syrian Arabs in civil war according to zionist propaganda 

 

Netanyahu visiting his Syrian terrorist in hospital - YouTube

From Zionist propganda

  

 

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/03/hillary-clinton-and-barack-obama-created-isis-says-donald-trump

 

 

Woow thanks for the informative reply & links ! And honestly i'm not surprised they're the real evil in this world 

[Abu Hadi]

On 1/5/2024 at 9:13 AM, 123xo said:

I thought ISIS is  zionist/US gov

Not exactly. They are an ideologically driven mercenary organization. They are followers of Ibn Taymiyyah and Abdul Wahab who both claim in their books that Shia are kaffir and thus it is halal to kill them. They also believe in the concept that the Iran and the Western Countries are 'dar al harb' ie a place and a people that are in a perpetual state of war with 'real Islam', ie the Islam preached by them, so they use this to justify killing innocent civilians, doing mass rapes, etc. 

Many believe they also 'freelance' in exchange for cash for different intelligence orgs such as Mossad

[123xo]

36 minutes ago, Abu Hadi said:

Not exactly. They are an ideologically driven mercenary organization. They are followers of Ibn Taymiyyah and Abdul Wahab who both claim in their books that Shia are kaffir and thus it is halal to kill them. They also believe in the concept that the Iran and the Western Countries are 'dar al harb' ie a place and a people that are in a perpetual state of war with 'real Islam', ie the Islam preached by them, so they use this to justify killing innocent civilians, doing mass rapes, etc. 

Many believe they also 'freelance' in exchange for cash for different intelligence orgs such as Mossad

Learnt something new! Great thorough answer. Jazak allah kheir will deff look into learning more about Taymiyyah, Abdul Wahab and Mossad.

[Quran313]

They can't defeat soldiers in the battle field. Instead, blast 2 bombs among civilians women and children.

[Ashvazdanghe]

Salam related thread aout response to attack by Iran