Iran announces arrest of 11 over deadly suicide bombings in Kerman

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/03/middleeast/iran-explosions-soleimani-ceremony-intl/index.html

Iran announces arrest of 11 over deadly suicide bombings in Kerman

Washington Post-Jan 6th2024

Iranian authorities have arrested 11 people linked to Wednesday’s bomb blasts in the central Iranian city of Kerman that killed dozens of people, the country’s Intelligence Ministry said in a statement published in state media.

Two suspects who were “supporting and supplying” the two alleged suicide bombers were arrested Thursday, the statement said. Nine others who Iranian officials believe are part of a network assisting the bombers were rounded up in six provinces, according to the ministry. Iranian officials said the two bombers had worked for Daesh, the Arabic acronym referring to Islamic State.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the blasts in a message posted to social media on Thursday.

The operation to capture individuals linked to the bombing “will definitely continue until the arrest of the last person who was involved in supporting the criminals in any way and to any extent,” the ministry said.

The two explosions in Kerman killed at least 91 people, the Associated Press reported, citing Iranian state TV. The blasts also injured more than 200, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing Iranian officials. They struck as thousands of mourners had gathered in the city’s streets to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the death of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, a senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who was killed in a 2020 U.S. drone strike.

Iranian authorities said one of the two suicide bombers was a Tajik citizen while the other’s nationality “has not been definitively established yet.” Officials said they found two explosive vests, two remote control devices and detonators, and several thousand bullets and wiring for the vests, among other items at the two bombers’ residence.

The Washington Post could not immediately verify the Intelligence Ministry’s account.

The blasts, while unrelated to the war in Gaza, came amid soaring tensions across the Middle East, amid fears that the conflict between Israel and Hamas could engulf the wider region. Some Iranian officials, without evidence, initially blamed the attack on Israel, but have since publicly blamed Islamic State militants.