Islamic State militants claimed responsibility on Thursday for a double bombing that resulted in the deaths of numerous people a day earlier.
This marked the largest attack in Iran since the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, dispelling earlier suspicions that Israel might have been involved.
The bombings occurred amid heightened tensions in the Middle East due to the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, as well as escalating hostilities between the U.S. and Israel on one side and various Iranian-backed militant groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen on the other.
On the same day, an American airstrike in Baghdad killed an Iran-backed militia leader, raising concerns about the potential expansion of the Israel-Hamas conflict to multiple fronts and the increased risk of the U.S. being drawn into direct confrontation.
Islamic State claimed responsibility, stating that two of its operatives detonated explosive belts during a public ceremony in the southeastern town of Kerman, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The event was held to commemorate the death of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in January 2020.
Islamic State’s ideology, being a hard-line Sunni group, views Shiite Muslims (the majority in Iran) as apostates.
Iranian authorities are currently investigating the bombings and have pledged to seek revenge for the attacks.
Written by B.C. Begley
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B.C. Begley 