Bombings near Soleimani’s grave likely a terrorist attack in ISIS mold, US official says
Mike Brest
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The United States’s early evaluations are that the two explosions that occurred Wednesday in Iran were a terrorist attack resemblant to previous ISIS bombings.
At least 103 people were killed and 188 injured in the Iranian city of Kerman after twin blasts near the burial site of slain military commander Qasem Soleimani. The purported terrorist attacks occurred on the fourth anniversary of the U.S. military’s airstrike that killed Soleimani in Iraq.
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“I think, just based on the M.O., it does look like a terrorist attack as a type of thing we’ve seen ISIS do in the past,” a senior administration official told reporters Wednesday. “And as far as we’re aware, that’s kind of, I think, our going assumption at the moment.”
U.S. National Security Council coordinator John Kirby also said the U.S. had no indication Israel was involved in the bombing that threatens to further escalate the already tense situation in the Middle East.
“I would just tell you that we have no indication that Israel was in any way involved in this,” he said, adding, “We certainly had no indications that there would be some sort of violence surrounding the anniversary of [Soleimani’s] death.
“We aren’t at a point now where we have a lot of great detail on this bombing,” Kirby added. “Certainly our hearts go out to all the innocent victims and their family members who, obviously, their lives are going to be forever changed by this, but we don’t have any more detail in terms of how it would happen or who might be responsible for it.”
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that there would be a “strong response” to the bombing.
“The enemies should know that, with God’s permission, perpetrators of this tragedy will be met with a strong response,” Khamenei said. “The enemy should know the soldiers on Soleimani’s bright path won’t tolerate their vileness & crime. The hands stained with the blood of innocent people & the corrupt, evil minds that misdirected them will definitely be the target of a severe pounding & a deserving retribution.”
Iran, which seeks to destroy Israel and the U.S., has a litany of proxy militias throughout the Middle East that are attacking U.S. troops and interests throughout the region.
Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria have launched more than 100 attacks against U.S. forces, which are stationed in both countries to continue the defeat ISIS campaign, while dozens of U.S. troops have been injured in the attacks. Iran also supports the Houthis in Yemen, who have launched roughly two dozen attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea, forcing many shipping companies to reroute away from the Middle East for precautionary measures.
The U.S. has launched a handful of strikes against the militias in Iraq and Syria but has largely refrained from attacking the Houthis.
Iran also supports Hamas and Hezbollah, the former of which prompted the war in Gaza with the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks that killed roughly 1,200 Israelis. The latter, which is based in Lebanon, is a more sophisticated and capable terrorist group that is also engaged in limited combat with Israel along the border of the two countries.
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A senior Hamas leader, Saleh Al-Arouri, was killed in a strike in a suburb of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. While Hamas accused Israel of the strike, the Israelis declined to say whether they were responsible for the strike. The supposed Israel attack would be the first iteration of the country carrying out its threat to hunt down the leaders responsible for the Oct. 7 attacks that are outside of Gaza.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that the killing “will not go unanswered or unpunished,” while Kirby said the U.S. is “going to judge actions and not words.”