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Iran lays to rest Kerman bombing victims, vows revenge

Iran buries 89 victims of twin suicide bombings and vows revenge, with the country's President Raisi stating retaliation will occur "at a time and place determined by Iranian forces".

AP

The attack killed 89 people, including multiple women and children and at least a dozen Afghan nationals, state TV said. / Photo: AP

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has joined mourners in Kerman for the funerals of the 89 people killed in twin blasts claimed by Daesh, state media said.

Suicide bombings struck crowds in the southern city, where many had gathered on Wednesday to commemorate Qasem Soleimani, commander of the elite Quds Force in Iran's Revolutionary Guard, on the fourth anniversary of his death in a US drone strike.

The attack killed 89 people, state TV said on Friday, raising an earlier toll following the deaths of several of the wounded.

The victims include multiple women and children and at least a dozen Afghan nationals, it said.

Despite the claim of responsibility by Daesh, Iranian officials have suggested Israeli and US involvement.

Daesh "has disappeared nowadays", said Revolutionary Guard chief Hossein Salami during the funeral ceremony, arguing militants "only act as mercenaries" for US and Israeli interests.

The United States rejected any suggestion that it or its ally Israel were behind the bombings, while Israel did not comment.

Raisi pledges to hunt down perpetrators

Iran's Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told state TV that "some individuals involved in the attack have been arrested," without elaborating.

Salami vowed that Iran "will find you wherever you are", referring to any Daesh members behind the bombing plot.

And Raisi said revenge for the killings will come at "the time and place will be determined by our forces".

The president in his remarks also hailed Palestinian resistance group Hamas for its October 7 attacks on Israel, which was followed by an unrelenting offensive on Gaza.

"We know that 'Al-Aqsa Flood' operation will bring about the end of the Zionist regime," he said.

Friday's funeral took place at the Emam Ali mosque in Kerman, where crowds gathered in front of dozens of coffins wrapped in the Iranian flag, according to state media.

More than 100 dead in blasts near grave of slain Iran general

Mass rallies

President Raisi, who arrived in Kerman to attend the funerals, also visited Soleimani's grave, state TV said.

Iranian authorities called for mass rallies after the funerals and Friday prayers to protest the bombings.

Iranian investigators had already confirmed that the first blast at least was the work of a "suicide bomber" and believed the trigger for the second was "very probably another suicide bomber", official news agency IRNA had reported earlier, citing an "informed source".