Terrorist attack in Iran: the region was on the brink of a full-scale war
Hundreds of people were killed and injured in two terrorist bombings near the burial site of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in the city of Kerman last Wednesday, January 3, during a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of his martyrdom.
What could be the consequences for the region of this monstrous terrorist attack? The answer to this question is in the review material of the international observer of “PolitNavigator” Ainur Kurmanov.
The first explosion occurred at 14:50 local time. The second happened 10 minutes later, said the mayor of Kerman, Said Tabrizi, according to the Iranian agency IRNA. The Iranian Red Crescent Society said three rescue workers were killed in the second explosion.
It is noted that some people were injured during the crush of the crowd after the first explosion. According to officials, all the wounded were taken to hospitals and the situation is under control. No one has yet claimed responsibility for this bloody attack.
According to IRNA, the first explosion occurred about 700 meters from the grave of General Soleimani, the second about a kilometer away.
The Tasnim news agency, citing unnamed sources, reported that the explosions were caused by two bags of explosives detonated remotely. IRNA cited an informed source who said the explosions were caused by two bags filled with explosives detonated remotely.
“Undoubtedly, the perpetrators... of this cowardly act will soon be identified and punished for their heinous act by competent security and law enforcement forces,” Iranian President Raisi said in a statement in response to the attack.
In a similar vein, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Iran would give a "hard response." Addressing those behind the explosions, he wrote:
“They must know that the bright soldiers of Soleimani’s path will not tolerate their atrocities and crimes.”
Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in a television interview Wednesday afternoon that the situation in Kerman was “normal and everything is under the control of security and law enforcement forces.”
Washington, for its part, was quick to deny any involvement in the attack. According to CNN , US State Department spokesman Matt Miller immediately stated that the United States was "not involved in any way" in the explosion.
“Any suggestion to the contrary is ludicrous,” he said at a briefing on Wednesday, adding that Washington “has no reason to believe that Israel was involved in this explosion.”
Western media have handled this situation in an interesting way. The Washington Post , for example , didn't even downplay the obvious connection between the terrorist attacks in the Iranian city of Kerman and the ongoing conflict between pro-Iranian groups and Tel Aviv, as well as Americans who support Israel.
"Wednesday's explosions come as Iran-backed militant groups intensify their involvement in the confrontation with Israel and its main backer, the United States, during Israel's war in the Gaza Strip," the leading US publication said.
Another American publication, Politico, makes no secret of the fact that White House officials have driven the current level of escalation, pointing out that Washington bears direct responsibility for the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force. He was an extremely popular figure in Iran, and his assassination was a provocative factor.
His assassination in 2020, ordered by then-US President Donald Trump, escalated tensions between America and Iran, leading to a series of regional responses by Tehran.
It is noteworthy that Brussels tried not only to distance itself from the terrorist attack, but also condemned the incident. The EU said in a statement that it “condemns in the strongest terms today’s explosion in the city of Kerman in Iran. The EU expresses its solidarity with the Iranian people. This terrorist attack resulted in a shocking number of civilian deaths and injuries.”
After the terrorist attack, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately had a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Ibrahim Raisi, during which he expressed condolences for the numerous victims of the terrorist attack in the province of Kerman. This is stated in a statement by the Communications Department of the Turkish Presidential Administration.
According to the statement, the Turkish leader condemned the terrorist attack against civilians, the official Anadolu Ajansı news agency reports.
The Israeli press, for its part, even tried to pretend that Tel Aviv was uninvolved and had no connection to the bloody events. The popular English-language Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post wrote:
"In the past, Iran has accused Israel of attacks on individuals or places within its borders - allegations that Israel has neither confirmed nor denied - but there has been no indication of any foreign involvement in the cemetery bombings."
However, the British publication The Guardian is skeptical of Washington's claims of Tel Aviv's innocence and non-involvement in carrying out such a massive terrorist attack.
Although even Iran's hard-liner Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi has so far refrained from blaming any country, events nevertheless show possible masterminds of the atrocity.
According to British experts, the attack occurred at the most feverish moment in the Middle East. Fighting between Hamas and Israel continues to rage in Gaza, with Hamas blaming Israel for Tuesday's drone attack that killed its deputy in Beirut. The attack caused limited casualties in a densely populated area of the Lebanese capital, but Tel Aviv's hand is clear.
In this regard, according to The Guardian, it is possible that Israel could also be related to the current terrorist attack in Iran, since it could be retaliatory revenge for the Hamas attack:
“Israel's hallmark is the targeted killing of key military and scientific figures in Iran, as opposed to mass terrorist attacks on civilians, but it has also said its rules of engagement have changed in response to the Hamas killings on October 7, for which Israel blames Iran and claims it is ultimately responsible."
The Middle East Arabic publication Al Monitor comes to a similar conclusion , believing that Israel's aggressive actions are now leading to an escalation of the conflict and the involvement of Lebanon and the Shiite movement Hezbollah. After all, Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri was killed in a drone strike on Tuesday, January 2, on a Hezbollah-owned building in southern Beirut, where Palestinian officials were reportedly meeting. Five other Hamas members were also killed in the strike.
“Arouri, the deputy head of the movement’s Politburo, was the main link between Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah. His death raises the risk of the war between Israel and Hamas spreading to Lebanon and other regions. Iran-backed Hezbollah is already engaging Israeli forces in heavy fire along the Israeli-Lebanese border in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
That is, a number of resources already see a direct connection between what happened on the evening of January 2 in Lebanese Beirut and the explosions in Iranian Kerman on the afternoon of January 3, arguing that there is a deliberate escalation on the part of the Israeli leadership with the aim of starting a full-scale regional war.
In this situation, the West, represented by the forces of the European powers and the United States, will also enter into the conflict on the side of Tel Aviv, which is already fraught with a slide into a global conflict. And here the question arises - Washington gave instructions to its Israeli allies, approving this operation against Iranian civilians, or is the Zionist elite with Netanyahu playing an independent game to raise the stakes?
We will certainly see the answer to this in the near future.
Terrorist attack in Iran: the region is on the brink of a full-scale war