According to the latest news from foreign media, on January 3, local time, two explosions occurred in Iran one after another, which have killed at least 103 people and injured nearly 200 people. The authorities defined the bombing tragedy as a terrorist attack.
According to reports, the series of explosions could become the deadliest attack since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The first explosion occurred at around 3 p.m. in a parking lot near the Martyrs' Cemetery in the city of Kerman. There was a lot of traffic here, and thousands of people were marching along a street, when an explosion suddenly occurred, and everyone fled in panic.
Judging from the footage from the scene, after the explosion, thick smoke rose from the scene, and people screamed in terror and fled, triggering a stampede. Some of the people who escaped were trampled and injured, and those who did not have time to flee for their lives were blown up on the spot, and there was red blood all over the ground.
The vehicles at the scene were also blown to pieces, the windows were blown out, and the rear compartment was deformed.
In the aftermath of the explosion, many people lay on the ground covered in blood and could not move, and before first responders arrived, they died and were draped in white cloth.
Soon after, police cars and ambulances arrived and began to save people, but the road was blocked due to the wave after wave of people at the scene.
As if aiming at the chaotic scene, more first responders poured in, and about 10 minutes later, a second explosion was heard.
This time the bomb attack was more widespread, with more casualties and shrapnel spraying into the crowd that had just escaped from the previous explosion.
"We were walking towards the cemetery when a car suddenly stopped behind us and a trash can with a bomb exploded," an eyewitness said. We only heard explosions and saw people falling. There was a bomb in the trash. ”
The day coincided with Iran's commemoration of General Soleimani, who died in a drone strike four years ago, and thousands of people were in attendance at the commemoration.
Authorities characterized the serial bombings as a terrorist attack and said the second explosion was a common tactic used by militants to target people fleeing for their lives and first responders who poured into the scene, causing more casualties.
The city of Kerman, about 820 kilometers from the capital, Tehran, where the explosion took place, appears to have been aimed at the commemoration, with the first explosion nearly 700 meters from Soleimani's grave and the second 1 kilometer away.
The Iranian news agency, citing sources familiar with the matter, said that "two bags containing bombs exploded at the scene, and the perpetrators of this incident apparently detonated the bombs with a remote control." ”
Local officials revealed that "the two explosions were caused by terrorist attacks, and on the road leading to the cemetery, several gas canisters also suddenly exploded." ”
At this stage, no group has come forward to take responsibility for the terrorist attack, and Iranian authorities say that exile groups, militant groups or other countries are behind the attacks. Whoever it is, they will find out the murderer. In just a few hours, the death toll from the explosion rose rapidly, and the Iranian government officially declared today a "national day of mourning".
After the news broke, world leaders publicly expressed their condolences and condemnation. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the attack "shockingly brutal." The Turkish president also condemned the "heinous terrorist attack".
On January 3, 2020, former U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a drone attack on Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, and the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRC) Soleimani was assassinated.
His ancestral home is Iran's Kerr province, which is the capital of the bombed city of Kerman today. Soleimani was so famous in Iran that he was buried in the Martyrs' Cemetery, where thousands of people came to mourn him, but they lost their lives in a new terrorist attack.
In fact, the commemoration of Soleimani's death has attracted large numbers of people over the past few years, and there have been tragic deaths.
In 2020, his funeral was packed with a procession of thousands of people, and a stampede on the spot left at least 56 dead and more than 200 injured, but it was not as devastating as it is today.
Look at the calendar, it's only been a few days into 2024 and so much has happened – tensions in the Middle East continue to be high, Israel launched an attack on Lebanon only yesterday, and Iran has been bombed twice this year...... It has also made many people sigh: Is this just the beginning of the eventful autumn in the world? When will world peace really come?