103 killed in twin blasts in Iran

TEHRAN: As many as 103 people were killed in twin blasts targeting a commemoration for General Qassem Soleimani, a prominent general slain in a US drone strike in 2020. A senior official of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard was also killed.

140 people were injured. The first blast occurred during a memorial service held near Soleimani's tomb near the Sahib Al-Zaman mosque in the southern city of Kerman. Remote control bombs placed in suitcases exploded. Iranian authorities said it was a terrorist attack. Sources close to Iran alleged that an Israeli-backed group was behind the blast.

The first explosion took place on a busy road about 700 meters from Soleimani's tomb at around 3.04 pm local time. After 13 minutes, a second explosion occurred one kilometre away. The bodies were dismembered beyond recognition. Sources said that the death toll is likely to rise. Thousands of people had gathered for Soleimani's memorial service.

Razi Mousavi, the top commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria on Christmas Day. Between 2010 and 2012, Israel had killed four scientists of Iran's nuclear program.

Soleimani- Iran's James Bond

• On January 3, 2020, Soleimani was killed in a drone strike in Baghdad, Iraq, on the orders of then-US President Donald Trump.
• Soleimani was the most powerful person in Iran after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
• Soleimani was known as Iran's James Bond
• He was the former head of the Quds Force, the foreign wing of Iran's Revolutionary Guards
• Soleimani had helped Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi groups
• Trump had described Soleimani as the 'number one terrorist in the world'

Islamic Revolutionary Guard
It is an armed force established in 1979 after the Islamic Revolution. Its responsibilities are to prevent foreign interference, to stop subversive moves by the army, and to suppress movements against the ideology of the Islamic revolution.