A pair of explosions near the grave of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani killed at least 73 people and wounded up to 170 more in Kerman, Iran, according to Wednesday reports from Iranian media.
Iranian officials say the explosions occurred during a ceremony honoring Soleimani on the fourth anniversary of his death.
Soleimani was killed in 2020 at the hands of a U.S. drone strike ordered by then-President Trump.
“The blasts were caused by terrorist attacks,” Iranian media quoted a local official as saying, without accusing any specific party. “Several gas canisters exploded on the road leading to the cemetery.”
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The explosions come amid severe tensions between Iran, the U.S. and Israel. Iran’s proxy terrorist groups have attacked U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria more than 100 times since October, and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have harassed trade in the Red Sea. Hezbollah, another Iran-supported group, has threatened Israel’s northern border with drone attacks.
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Hezbollah media confirmed on Tuesday that a drone attack had killed a senior Hamas leader in Beirut, Lebanon.
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Israel did not claim responsibility for the attack, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration noted its “surgical” nature.
“Israel has not taken responsibility for this attack. But whoever did it must be clear that this was not an attack on the Lebanese state,” Netanyahu adviser Ambassador Mark Regev told MSNBC. “It was not even an attack on Hezbollah terrorist organization. Whoever did this did a surgical strike against the Hamas leadership.”
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report
