Over 200 killed as twin explosions hit memorial for assassinated Iranian general

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

UPDATE: i24 reports:

 A cdouble explosion was reported on Wednesday, leaving at least 211 dead and 171 more wounded, near the burial place of Iran’s notorious Revolutionary Guards Corps commander, Qassem Soleimani, according to Iranian state media.

The deputy governor of Kerman province, where the explosions occurred, declared the incident an act of terrorism. Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi blamed Israel for being behind the attack and said it would pay “a heavy price for this crime.”

At least 100 people were killed and hundreds more injured Wednesday afternoon in a pair of explosions at a cemetery in Iran as mourners marked the anniversary of the assassination of a senior Iranian general.

The explosions were reported in the city of Kerman, in southeastern Iran, the home town of Lt. General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force.

Thousands of Iranians had gathered outside Soleimani’s final resting place Wednesday to mark the fourth anniversary of his death in an American drone strike.

The explosions were reported in the city of Kerman, in southeastern Iran, the home town of Lt. General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force.

 

Local officials speaking with Iranian state television claimed the explosions were the result of a terrorist bombing.

“The blasts were caused by terrorist attacks,” the deputy governor of the Kerman province said.

According to Nournews multiple gas canisters were detonated next to a road outside the cemetery where the memorial was held.

“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, was quoted by state television as saying.