At least 20 people were killed in two explosions near the grave of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in 2020, on Wednesday, according to Iranian state television. The two explosions shook the southern city of Kerman, where the grave is located in a mosque, within minutes of each other, television reported. It was a “terrorist attack”.
On Wednesday, Iran commemorated the fourth anniversary of the death of Soleimani, who was killed by the US military in Iraq on January 3, 2020. State television reported that a crowd of people was hit by the explosions.
Soleimani was killed in a drone strike near Baghdad ordered by then US President Donald Trump. The general commanded the Quds Brigades, the branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard responsible for foreign operations, and was considered a hero of the Iran-Iraq War in his homeland. Trump said at the time that he had ordered the drone strike in response to a series of attacks on US bases in Iraq.
