Kerman, Iran – A pair of explosions rocked southeastern Iran on Wednesday, killing over a hundred and wounding countless others. The blasts—which have been called a ‘terrorist attack’ by Iranian state media—took place during a funeral commemorating the 4th-anniversary of the assassination of revered commander Qasem Soleimani feet away from his tomb.

According to Iranian state television, two explosions ripped through an anniversary event at a cemetery in the southeastern city of Kerman, where Soleimani is buried. Commander Solemani, who was killed in a state-sanctioned drone attack by then-President Donald Trump, is widely regarded as the architect behind the “Axis of Resistance” against Israel, which includes Hamas and other militant organizations currently engaged in a fight to liberate Palestine.

According to a source cited by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), “Two explosive devices planted along the road leading to Kerman’s Martyrs’ Cemetery were detonated remotely by terrorists.” A spokesman for emergency services in the area originally reported that 73 people had been killed, but that number starkly rose, when state television later confirmed “at least 100 people” had been killed. The number, some say, could be even higher.

The IRNA further clarified that the first explosion took place when a bomb hidden inside a Peugeot 405 car was remotely detonated a mere 2,300 feet from Soleimani’s grave. Approximately 20 minutes later, a much more potent blast was detonated 0.6 miles away, along a road that was being used by pilgrims gathering for the event.

“A terrible sound was heard there, despite all the security and safety measures. We are still investigating,” said Reza Fallah, of the Kerman Red Crescent Society, to Iranian television. “We are now evacuating the wounded and injured in the area. The crowd is huge and the job is quite hard all the paths to there are blocked,”

Videos of the aftermath of the attack quickly circulated on social media, and depict chaos as bodies of the dead and wounded lay on the ground. Others can be seen scurrying to help the wounded in any way that they can, including ambulances and other members of the humanitarian aid organization, Red Crescent.

At the time of press, no group has acknowledged its role in the attack, however, many believe responsibility lies with the state of Israel, a controversy-mired nation often accused of launching clandestine assassinations, attacks, and other acts of sabotage inside Iran for decades. According to journalist and university lecturer, Marwa Osman of PressTV, the attack appeared to have the “fingerprints of Zionists all over it.”

“The hands of terrorism reach the hometown of Martyr Haj Qasem Soleimani. Condolences to our Iranian friends for the martyrdom…during the commemoration of Martyr Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani’s anniversary,” she said on her official Telegram page. “This (attack) has the fingerprints of Zionists all over it.”

“Soleimani, the martyr, left behind him an entire axis of resistance that poses an existential threat to Zionist Israel and US imperial ambitions in all of West Asia,” she said in another.

On Wednesday, a political deputy for the Iranian president expressly called out Israel, as well as the United States, for its alleged complicity in the massacre. The statement was made by Mohammad Jamshidi, who was responding to an earlier statement made by the US State Department which denied any involvement.

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

In America, other notable anti-Zionists also came out to swiftly tie the terror bombing to Israel. Anti-War and White civil rights activist, Mike Peinovich, said it was a cheap ploy to drag the United States into a full-blown war.

“The Jews were undeniably behind the terrorist attacks in Iran,” asserted Peniovich in a post on Telegram. “The aim here is to get the Iranians to retaliate and drag America into the war without Israel catching direct blame.”

“Just like with the assassination of the Hamas leader in Beirut yesterday, I am sure the Jews did not inform the US military that they were carrying out the terrorist attack inside Iran today, despite this attack having consequences for American forces stationed in the region and potentially placing them in harm’s way…The Jews don’t give a fuck about America, we are just here to do their dirty work for them. America is just one big dumb John Fetterman-style golem for them,” he continued in another.

“The Jews were undeniably behind the terrorist attacks in Iran. The aim here is to get the Iranians to retaliate and drag America into the war without Israel catching direct blame.”

Mike Peinovich, Telegram

Tensions between the United States, Iran, and the Israeli regime have escalated ever since the daring October 7th raid by Hamas into encroaching Jewish settlements near the Gaza Strip. Since then, Israel has responded by killing over 22,000 Palestinian men, women, and children in unrepentant bombings of civilian areas, made worse by a ground invasion that has since faltered in recent weeks.

While Gazan civilians have faced the brunt of Israeli attacks so far, the Iranian-backed Houthis of Yemen have stepped in by launching attacks against Western shipping lanes inside the Red Sea, widely regarded as one of the world’s largest shipping lanes. In conjunction, American and Israeli troops have faced strikes, including drone and rocket attacks, carried out by Iranian allies inside Iraq, Lebanon, and war-torn Syria.

The terror bombing of a funeral at Solemani’s tomb on Wednesday comes in the wake of other targeted assassinations launched against the Axis of Resistance. On Monday, Sayyed Razi Mousavi, a leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, was killed after an Israeli strike targeted him coming home from work at the embassy in Syria. On Tuesday, Iran condemned Israel for its role in the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, a deputy chief for the Palestinian Hamas, inside Lebanon. Iran later called on the UN to take an “immediate, effective response.”

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