On the anniversary of the death of the powerful Iranian general Ghassem Soleimani, at least 73 people were killed in two explosions in his hometown of Kerman. After there was initially talk of more than 20 and then 50 deaths, the number of deaths has risen again, according to state media. As the state news agency Irna reported on Wednesday, more than 170 people were injured.
The two explosions shook the southern city of Kerman, where the grave is located in a mosque, a few minutes apart, television reported. A crowd of people was hit by the explosions. According to the parastatal news agency Nournews, “several gas canisters exploded on the road to the cemetery.” A local official was quoted in the media as saying that these were “terrorist attacks.”
On Wednesday, Iran commemorated the fourth anniversary of the death of Soleimani, who was killed by the US military in Iraq on January 3, 2020. Soleimani was killed in a drone strike near Baghdad ordered by then US President Donald Trump. The general commanded the Quds Brigades, the branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard responsible for foreign operations, and was considered a hero of the Iran-Iraq War in his homeland. Trump said at the time that he had ordered the drone strike in response to a series of attacks on US bases in Iraq.
Editor’s note: This article is continually updated.
