The Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack that left dozens dead in Iran's Kerman province during the commemoration of the anniversary of the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani on Wednesday, Jan. 3.
"By the grace of God, the martyr brothers, may God accept them, approached a crowd of polytheists, near the tomb of their leader Soleimani, in the city of Kerman, Iran, yesterday, where they detonated their explosive vests in the middle of the crowd," read the statement ISIS posted Thursday, Jan. 4, on Telegram.
Just after the explosion, a Biden administration official argued that the characteristics of the attack in Kerman suggested Islamic State involvement.
"It does look like a terrorist attack, the type of thing we've seen ISIS do in the past, and as far as we are aware that is kind of, I think, our going assumption at the moment," the official said, as reported by Reuters.
The crowd had gathered to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the death of terrorist leader and one of Iran's most powerful men, Qasem Soleimani, killed on Jan. 3, 2020 at the airport in Baghdad, Iraq, by a U.S. drone on the orders of former President Donald Trump.
So far, the death toll from the suicide bombing has reached 84, according to the latest official count.
Initially, some Iranian leaders blamed Israel for the explosion and claimed that the attack was part of the war with Gaza. However, Western leaders, according to The New York Times, concluded that it was unlikely because, although Israel does carry out operations inside Iran, it has so far not targeted civilians, but specific individuals.
The Islamic State, now considerably reduced, is a paramilitary terrorist group of Sunni doctrine, which considers Shiism, another branch of Islam predominant in Iran, as heretical. Therefore, the conflict between the terrorist group and the Iranian theocracy has been developing for years.
