Iran arrests 32 suspects after deadly blasts at Suleimani memorial

Iranian authorities have arrested 32 people suspected of involvement in the bomb attack that killed dozens of people in Kerman, state media said yesterday.

Two blasts took place as thousands of mourners gathered on Wednesday to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the death of military leader Qassem Suleimani. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed at least 91 people, Iran’s Tasnim news agency said.

The state prosecutor in Kerman, Mahdi Bakhshi, said on Saturday that “all terrorists involved in the January 3 attack” in Kerman had been arrested.

“Thirty-two people have been arrested in the Kerman crime case and are going through preliminary interrogations,” Tasnim quoted him as saying. As many as 16 bombs have been discovered throughout Kerman province, Press TV reported.

Mr Bakhshi added that 23 ISIS-linked would-be suicide bombers had been arrested in recent months in Kerman province.

As the head of the overseas operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Quds Force, Suleimani was the architect of Iran’s proxy militias in the region, known as the “Axis of Resistance”. Suleimani and the Quds Force supervised local militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

ISIS said he “was involved in dozens of massacres of Muslims in Iraq and Syria”.

It said the attack had “dealt a strong security blow to the Iranian government … at a time when several parties are trying to promote the Iranian project in the region”. Suleimani was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad on January 3, 2020, amid a long-running low-level conflict between pro-Tehran militias and US troops.

American drones fired three missiles at his convoy as it left Baghdad Airport, killing him along with Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis and several aides.

The US said at the time that Suleimani was planning imminent action against US personnel in Iraq.

The assassination sparked fears of a direct military confrontation between the US and Iran.

Suleimani’s killing was followed by several rocket attacks on Iraqi military bases where US troops were stationed.

Five days after the assassination, Iran fired missiles at two airbases in Iraq, injuring several US troops.