At least 53 dead after two explosions in Iran at a memorial event for General Qasem Soleimani

At least 53 people have died due to two explosions that occurred this Wednesday near a cemetery in the province of Kerman (south) where Qasem Soleimani, head of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guard, killed in a bombing carried out by the United States, is buried. United States in January 2020 in Iraq's capital, Baghdad. “So far we have transferred 53 dead and more than 70 injured to a hospital,” said the head of the Kerman Emergency Medical Center in statements given to the Mehr news agency, although it is not ruled out that the number of deaths will increase. in the next few hours.

According to information collected by the Iranian Tasnim news agency, the explosions took place near the Garden of Martyrs and the Sahib al Zaman mosque during an event for the fourth anniversary of the death of Soleimani, who died on January 3, 2020. due to the aforementioned US attack. Thus, the Iranian media have indicated that a first explosion has left numerous victims, after which another deflagration has been recorded in the area, without the Iranian authorities having commented on the causes of the incident.

Iranian security forces have reinforced their presence in the area of ​​the explosions, where numerous ambulances have also been sent to treat the victims and transfer the injured to hospitals in the city. Thousands of people had gathered in the city to pay tribute to Soleimani, one of the victims of a drone attack carried out by the United States.

Also among the dead was Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, then 'number two' of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) – a coalition of pro-government Iraqi militias supported by Iran. On December 6, an Iranian court sentenced the United States Government and other institutions and individuals in the North American country to pay some 50 billion dollars (more than 46 billion euros) for the death of Soleimani, after issuing dozens of arrest warrants against senior US officials, including former President Donald Trump.