At least 70 killed in explosions during Iranian memorial ceremony for slain General Soleimani

At least seventy people were killed on Wednesday by two explosions near a cemetery in the Iranian city of Kerman. At the time of the attack, a memorial ceremony was taking place there for Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by the United States four years ago, international news agencies reported on the basis of Iranian state television.

It is not known who is behind the attack in the southern Iranian city. Thousands of people are said to have attended the commemoration ceremony. After the explosions, a stampede reportedly occurred and people trampled each other, causing… at least 170 people injured would have been hit.

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Soleimani had hero status in Iran, he made the country more powerful

<strong>Soleimani</strong> (third from right) at a memorial service for the Prophet’s daughter.” class=”dmt-article-suggestion__image” src=”https://images.nrc.nl/WOEjAFYv4A4epfsh81SCSv0pJ8Q=/160×96/smart/filters:no_upscale()/s3/static.nrc.nl/bvhw/files/2020/10/data53607460-3017c2.jpg”/></p><p>General Qassem Soleimani, who came from Kerman and is buried there, was killed by a US drone in the Iraqi capital Baghdad four years ago.  As commander of the Al Quds Brigade, an elite unit mainly focused on intelligence work and sabotage, he managed to significantly expand Iranian influence in the Middle East.</p><p>The timing of the attack is remarkable: on Tuesday it was announced that an Israeli drone strike had killed prominent Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in the Lebanese capital Beirut.  In 2020, Al-Arouri led a delegation from the Palestinian extremist organization together with Ismail Haniyeh, another Hamas figure <a rel=to the funeral of Qassem Soleimani. It is not clear whether there is a connection between the attack on Al-Arouri and the explosions at the Soleimani memorial.






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