The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Thursday for the twin bombings that killed 84 people in Kerman, Iran, near late Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani's burial site.
ISIS said in a statement on its Telegram channel that it carried out Wednesday's attack, calling the slain leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp's elite force a “hypocrite” and referring to the victims as “polytheists.” The group named two ISIS operatives, Omar al-Muwahid and Saifullah al-Mujahid, as responsible for the attacks. The claim said the men carried out the attacks with suicide explosive vests.
On Wednesday Iranian officials labeled the bombing a "terrorist attack," but had pointed fingers at the United States and Israel.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's deputy chief of staff for political affairs, Mohammad Jamshidi, said, "The responsibility for this crime lies with the US and Zionist regimes and terrorism is just a tool."
The attacks marked the deadliest in Iran in over 40 years, killing at least 84 people and wounding nearly 300.
ISIS considers Shiite Muslims heretics and has long targeted the population across the Muslim world.
The US assessment after the attack pointed to ISIS as a likely culprit.
“It does look like a terrorist attack, the type of thing we’ve seen ISIS do in the past. And as far as we’re aware, that’s kind of, I think, our going assumption at the moment,” the US official told reporters on Wednesday.
The explosion in Kerman was not the first time ISIS has attacked Iran. ISIS has claimed several attacks in the Islamic Republic in the last six years, including:
- A suicide bombing and shooting attack in the capital Tehran in 2017 that killed more than 10
- A shooting that killed 25 people at an Iranian military parade in southwestern Iran in 2018
- Another shooting attack at the Shah Cheragh Shiite shrine in the southern city of Shiraz in 2022 that left at least 15 dead
Iran did not immediately comment on ISIS’ claim.
This breaking story has been updated since initial publication.
