Iran blames Israel, US for deadly blasts near grave of Guards general Soleimani

France 4, January 4, 2024

Event

Iran blamed Israel and the United States on Wednesday for twin bomb blasts that killed at least 84 people in the country’s south, ripping through a crowd commemorating Revolutionary Guards general Qassem Soleimani four years after his death in a US strike.
The two explosions – labelled a “terrorist attack” by state media and regional authorities – came amid high Middle East tensions over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the killing of a Hamas senior leader in Lebanon on Tuesday. The unclaimed attacks, which sparked fears of a widening conflict in the region, rattled global markets, where oil prices jumped more than three percent and sparked global condemnation.

“Washington says USA and Israel had no role in terrorist attack in Kerman, Iran. Really? A fox smells its own lair first,”

the Iranian president’s political deputy, Mohammad Jamshidi, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“Make no mistake. The responsibility for this crime lies with the US and Zionist regimes (Israel) and terrorism is just a tool,”

he added.

Comment

Iran suffered the worst terrorist attack in the history of the Islamic Republic this week when dozens of people were killed in two bomb blasts in the city of Kerman. Iran immediately blamed Israel and America who have both denied being involved. Interestingly the jihadist group Isis has claimed responsibility for two bombings. The statement, which was posted on Isis-affiliated Telegram channels, claimed two suicide bombers named Omar al-Movahed and Seifollah Mujahed had killed scores of “polytheist” Shia Muslims in the explosions. Isis is Sunni Muslim and Iran is Shia Muslim and the two sides hate each other. We think of the descendants of Ishmael (where the Muslim religion came from) – he will be a wild man and attack every man…

Bible quote

And the angel said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. He will live in open hostility against all his relatives.” (Genesis 16:11-12)

Andy Walton’s Weekly World Watch