Twin bomb blasts near Iran general Qasem Soleimani’s tomb kill 73 – state TV

At least 73 people have been killed by two bomb explosions near the tomb of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani on the fourth anniversary of his assassination by the US, Iran’s state media report.

State broadcaster Irib said another 171 people were wounded when the blasts hit a procession near the Saheb al-Zaman mosque in the southern city of Kerman. It cited Kerman’s deputy governor as saying it was a “terrorist attack”.

A video circulated online appeared to show several bodies on a road.

Hundreds of people were reportedly walking towards the tomb on Wednesday as part of a ceremony to commemorate Gen Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike in neighbouring Iraq in 2020.

Soleimani was seen as the most powerful figure in Iran after the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. As commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ overseas operations arm, the Quds Force, he was an architect of Iranian policy across the region. He was in charge of the Quds Force’s clandestine missions and its provision of guidance, funding, weapons, intelligence, and logistical support to allied governments and armed groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.

Then-US President Donald Trump, who ordered the 2020 assassination, described Soleimani as “the number-one terrorist anywhere in the world”.

(BBC)