Iran has accused Israel and the United States of being involved in an attack that killed at least 95 people on Wednesday near the grave of Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s master of military operations in the Middle East, who was killed by a US drone four years ago. reports France press

The official Irna news agency initially reported 103 dead, while state television reported 211 wounded, some of them in critical condition. Health Minister Bahram Einollahi later revised the death toll to 95, explaining that some names “were recorded twice”.

Near the Saheb al-Zaman mosque in Kerman, where the grave of General Suleimani is located, two explosions rang out. The ceremony was attended by a compact crowd of government officials and citizens.

Iran blames the US and the “Zionist regime”

A political adviser to the president of Iran accused Israel and the United States of being involved in the attack. “The responsibility for this crime lies with the American and Zionist regimes, and terrorism is only a tool,” wrote Mohammad Jamshidi on X.

The State Department in Washington said any suggestion of US or Israeli involvement was absurd.

“The United States was not involved in any way,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, adding: “We have no reason to believe that Israel was involved.”

Americans are suspicious of criminals

The attack “appears to be a terrorist attack similar to what (jihadi group) Islamic State has done in the past,” a senior US official said on condition of anonymity.

General Qassem Soleimani was a central figure in the struggle of Iranian forces against the jihadists of the “Islamic State” in Iraq after 2014.

Israel, a staunch enemy of Iran, has not commented on the attack. “We are focusing on the fight against Hamas,” said army spokesman Daniel Hagari when asked about it.

The attack, which has not yet been claimed, comes amid a tense regional war between Israel and Hamas and a day after a senior member of the Palestinian Islamist movement was killed in an attack near Beirut.

According to Irna, the first explosion rang out 700 meters from the grave of General Suleimani, the second – a kilometer away. Videos on social media showed attendees of the ceremony desperately trying to leave the area, while others fled in panic and disorientation.

According to AFP, the Iranian government declared Thursday a “day of national mourning” after the attack, Iran’s deadliest since 1978, when at least 377 people were killed in an arson attack at a movie theater in Abadan.

Ayatollah Khamenei promises a “tough response”

As night fell, dozens of people returned to Kerman Cemetery, chanting “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” In Tehran, thousands of people gathered to honor the memory of Qasem Suleimani.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised a “severe response” to the attack.

According to state media, President Ebrahim Raissi called it a “disgusting and cowardly” act and canceled his visit to Turkey, scheduled for Thursday.

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which supports Tehran, condemned the “terrorist act (…) which aims to destabilize the security of the Islamic Republic in the service of the agenda of the Zionist entity (Israel)”.

The attack on Suleimani’s tomb was condemned worldwide

For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the attack, which he called “shocking in its brutality and cynicism”.

The UN Secretary General, the European Union, France, Germany, Jordan and Saudi Arabia also condemned the attack.

“I strongly condemned this terrorist act and expressed (solidarity) with the Iranian people,” said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, after a telephone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Soleimani was a key power figure in Iran

Qassem Soleimani was killed in January 2020 during a US drone strike in Iraq. A key figure in the Iranian regime, he was also one of the country’s most popular figures.

Qassem Soleimani, long considered a staunch foe of Washington and its allies, headed the Qods, a unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that conducts military operations in the Middle East.

According to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, citing well-informed sources, the explosions were caused by “bombs hidden in two bags” and “it appears that the attackers activated the bombs by remote control.”

“We were walking to the cemetery when a car suddenly stopped behind us and a garbage can with a bomb exploded,” the witness was quoted as saying by the Isna news agency.

According to the same agency, citing the mayor of Kerman, Said Tabrizi, the explosions occurred ten minutes apart.