- At least 103 people killed and 170 wounded after two explosions hit ceremony
At least 103 people have been killed and 170 wounded after two explosions rocked a ceremony that was being held to mark the 2020 assassination of Iran's top commander Qassem Soleimani in a US drone attack.
The first explosion was quickly followed by a second close to a cemetery in the southeastern city of Kerman where thousands had gathered to mark the four-year anniversary of Soleimani's killing.
Harrowing video showed scores of bloodied victims lying on the floor as others stumbled away from the blast scene close to the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque where Soleimani is buried in what Iran has described as a 'terrorist attack'.
Iran declared Thursday a day of mourning following the blasts for which no group has yet claimed responsibility.
Video showed plumes of smoke rising up into the sky as thousands of people who had been walking towards the cemetery screamed in horror. The crowd were seen running away after the two explosions ripped through Kerman.
Thousands had gathered to mark the four-year anniversary of the ruthless commander's assassination when the explosions erupted near the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque.
The explosions came a day after an Israeli drone strike killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon's capital Beirut amid fears war could soon spiral across the Middle East.
But there is no suggestion the attack was authored by Tel-Aviv. While Israel has carried out attacks in Iran over its nuclear programme, it has conducted targeted assassinations, not mass-casualty bombings.
Sunni extremist groups, including Islamic State, have carried out large-scale attacks in the past that killed civilians in Shiite-majority Iran, though not in relatively peaceful Kerman.
Iranian emergency services arrive at the site where two explosions in quick succession struck a crowd marking the anniversary of the 2020 killing of Guards general Qasem Soleimani, near the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque in the southern Iranian city of Kerman on January 3, 2024
A view of the scene after explosions near Gen. Qassem Soleimani's tomb, in Kerman City, Iran on January 03, 2024
Damaged cars are seen as people try to help victims after an explosion next to the tomb of Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief of foreign operations in the Saheb al-Zaman mosque in the southern city of Kerman, Iran 03 January 2024
A group of men stand around the bodies of the victims killed in the two blasts in Kerman today
People run as smoke rises, amid local media reports of explosions during a ceremony held to mark the death of late Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, in Kerman, Iran January 3, 2024
Video showed plumes of smoke rising up into the sky as thousands of people who had been walking towards the cemetery to mark Soleimani's assassination screamed in horror
People are seen after an explosion in Kerman, Iran, on Wednesday
Thousands had gathered to mark the four-year anniversary of the ruthless commander's assassination when the explosions erupted near the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque
The first explosion was quickly followed by a second close to a cemetery in the southeastern city of Kerman where thousands had gathered to mark the four-year anniversary of Soleimani's (file image) killing
Babak Yektaparast, a spokesperson for Iran's emergency services, earlier told state media that 73 people had been killed and 170 injured but the toll was quickly bumped up to 103, with the number of casualties expected to rise further.
Mystery surrounds who is behind today's blasts, but they came less than 24 hours after an Israeli drone strike killed Arouri in Beirut, Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously vowed to cut 'the head off the snake' and launch a military attack against Iran after Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, which is backed by Tehran, fired rockets at Israel.
Rahman Jalali, the deputy governor of Kerman province where Soleimani is buried, said today's blasts were a 'terrorist attack' without elaborating on who could be behind them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, an ally of Tehran, expressed his condolences to Iran's leaders shortly after the bombings.
'The killing of peaceful people visiting the cemetery is shocking in its cruelty and cynicism,' Putin said in a letter to Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
It wasn't immediately clear what caused the blasts, but Iran Newspaper reported that two bags filled with explosives were detonated remotely in the middle of a crowd.
Several people were also injured in a stampede as they tried to flee the carnage, with several ambulances rushing to the scene.
But rescuers told how they were delayed in rushing the wounded to hospital due to the huge crowds blocking the roads.
'Our rapid response teams are evacuating the injured... But there are waves of crowds blocking roads,' Reza Fallah, head of the Kerman province Red Crescent rescuers told state TV.
Thousands had gathered in the city to pay their respects to Soleimani, who was killed in a US strike at Baghdad International Airport in neighbouring Iraq in 2020.
Soleimani was responsible for shaping Iran's foreign policy throughout the Middle East and was revered and loved in his homeland.
However, to American officials, he represented a deadly foe during the Iraq War, one who helped arm militants with penetrating roadside bombs that killed and maimed US troops.
The strike that killed Soleimani unfolded on January 3, 2020 close to Baghdad airport.
Soleimani had arrived at the airport on a plane from either Syria or Lebanon around 12.30am when he was met on the tarmac by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, then-deputy commander of the pro-Iran Popular Mobilisation Forces in Iraq.
Moments later, as their cars passed through a cargo area headed for an access road leading out of the airport, the convoy was struck by four missiles fired by an MQ-9 Reaper drone.
Both vehicles were instantly reduced to smouldering wrecks - killing Soleimani, Muhandis, and three others.
An American airstrike on Baghdad airport killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's powerful Quds force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy-leader of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, on January 3, 2020, in Baghdad
Four precision missiles fired from a U.S. drone struck the two cars carrying Soleimani and his entourage, on Jan 3, 2020, in Baghdad
But rescuers told how they were delayed in rushing the wounded to hospital due to the huge crowds blocking the roads
People are seen after an explosion in Kerman, Iran, on Wednesday
Ambulances are seen rushing wounded victims from the blast site on Wednesday
Soleimani, who led the elite Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, was credited with helping to arm, train and lead armed groups across the region, including the Shiite militias in Iraq, the Lebanese Hezbollah, and fighters in Syria, the Palestinian territories and Yemen.
Iran has multiple foes who could be behind the assault, including exile groups, militant organisations and state actors. Iran has supported Hamas as well as the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthi rebels.
Last night, an Israeli drone strike on Hamas' offices in Beirut killed four of the terror group's members including Arouri, its deputy political leader.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened to kill al-Arouri, who headed the organisation in the West Bank and helped to found the group's armed wing, even before Hamas launched its bloody October 7 attack.
Israeli officials last vowed that all Hamas leaders 'are doomed to death', but declined to comment on whether their forces had carried out the Beirut attack.
Arouri, 57, was the first senior Hamas political leader to be assassinated since Israel launched a brutal air and ground offensive against the group almost three months ago on the heels of the ruthless October 7 attacks.
Arouri was one of the most influential in Hamas and was residing in Beirut's southern suburbs under the protection of Hezbollah until his death following an Israeli strike
Lebanon's heavily armed Hezbollah group, a powerful Hamas ally, previously vowed to strike back against any Israeli targeting of Palestinian officials in Lebanon, and said of last night's attack: 'This crime will never pass without response and punishment.'
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati also condemned the killing, declaring Israel 'aims to draw Lebanon' further into the war.
Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been exchanging fire almost daily over the Israeli-Lebanese border since Israel's military campaign in Gaza began, but so far the Lebanese group has appeared reluctant to dramatically escalate the fighting.
A significant response now could send the conflict spiralling into all-out war on Israel's northern border.
And today, Israeli forces continued to pummel Lebanon with strikes in a bid to target Hezbollah militants, who are backed by Iran.