IS claims responsibility for Iran bombing that killed 84 people

THE so-called Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for twin bombings in Iran which killed 84 people at a memorial ceremony for Qassim Soleimani, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) general.

In a statement on Telegram, IS said two of its members “activated their explosives vests” among crowds which had gathered to honour the Iranian commander who was killed four years ago in a US drone strike.

It added the attacks were part of efforts to disrupt Iran’s alleged expansionism in the Middle East.

Iranian officials had said the first blast on Wednesday was launched by a “suicide bomber”, adding they suspected the second explosion was “very probably another suicide bomber.” On Wednesday, Iranian reports said the bombs were detonated remotely.

After initially announcing 100 deaths from the attack, which wounded hundreds of others at the scene of the memorial near Soleimani’s tomb in Kerman, Iranian authorities revised the toll down to 84.

IS has previously launched attacks on the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini and the Iranian parliament in Tehran. It has also attacked a military parade in Ahvaz and mounted a gun attack in October 2022 at a shrine in Shiraz.

Wednesday’s incident, the most deadly of its kind to hit Iran in years, sparked rampant speculation as to who may have been behind it. Some – including top Iranian regime officials – initially pointed the finger at Israel, Iran’s arch-nemesis in the region.

However, experts said this was unlikely as Israel has typically focused its attacks in Iran on nuclear scientists and facilities, rather than mass civilian gatherings. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had blamed “evil and criminal enemies” of the Islamic republic, without naming them, and vowed a “harsh response”.

President Ebrahim Raisi’s deputy chief of staff for political affairs, Mohammad Jamshidi, also claimed in a post on social media that “the responsibility for this crime lies with the US and Zionist [Israeli] regimes, and terrorism is just a tool”.

The US rejected any suggestion it or its ally Israel were behind the bombings, while Israel declined to comment. “The United States was not involved in any way, and any suggestion to the contrary is ridiculous,” said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. “We have no reason to believe that Israel was involved in this explosion.”

Kasra Aarabi of the United Against a Nuclear Iran campaign group said Tehran may use the bombing as a pretext for further military action against IS, which remains a threat in the region despite losing most of its territory.

“Expect IRGC to target IS with display of force (poss new weapons) aimed at signalling Israel/us,” he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.