The explosions took place this Wednesday in Kerman during a ceremony in honor of the leader of the Revolutionary Guards killed by an American drone in 2020.
An Iranian official says at least 103 people were killed and 211 injured (new toll), according to the Associated Press, during a ceremony in honor of a general killed four years ago by the Americans.
The two bombs exploded within minutes of each other in Kerman, in the southeast of the country. In an initial report, communicated by the official IRNA news agency which cited Dr Mohammad Saberi, the head of Kerman’s emergency services, 20 dead and 40 injured were mentioned.
The explosions took place during an event marking the fourth anniversary of the assassination of General Qassim Soleimani, head of the Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force. died during a US drone strike in Iraq in January 2020.
At this stage, the cause of the explosions is not yet clear. State television and Iranian authorities described the attacks as bombings, without giving further specific details about what happened. Ahmad Vahidi, the interior minister, told state television that the first bomb exploded around 3 p.m. and the other exploded about 20 minutes later. He specified that it was the second explosion which caused the most deaths and injuries.
It was the deadliest attack in Iran since the Revolution in 1979.