Two explosions this Wednesday killed at least 73 people and injured dozens near a cemetery in Iran, where a ceremony was being held to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the death of the country's top commander, Qasem Soleimani, who died in 2020 after a attack with American drones, as reported this Wednesday by Iranian state media.
Iranian state television reported a first and then a second explosion during the ceremony in the southeastern city of Kerman, adding that at least 20 people had died. The semi-official newspaper Nournews has stated that “several gas tanks exploded on the road leading to the cemetery.” A local official has been quoted by Iranian state media as saying that “it is still unclear whether the explosions were caused by gas cylinders or a terrorist attack.”
State television has shown Red Crescent rescuers tending to the wounded at the ceremony, where hundreds of Iranians had gathered to mark the anniversary of Soleimani's death. Some Iranian news agencies have reported that at least 50 people were injured. “Our rapid response teams are evacuating the injured… But there are waves of crowds blocking the roads,” Reza Fallah, head of the Kerman province Red Crescent, told state television.
Qasem Soleimani died in January 2020, aged 62, during a US drone strike in Iraq. He was a key figure in the Iranian regime and was one of the country's most popular public figures. After serving in the Iran-Iraq War from 1980 to 1988, Soleimani quickly rose through the ranks and eventually became head of the Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force, responsible for the Islamic Republic's external operations.
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