[UPDATE] Iran Bombing: Tehran Arrests 11 Suspects Over Blasts That Killed Nearly 100 People

Iran announced on Friday the arrest of 11 suspects who are believed to have been involved in the two bombings that resulted in the death of nearly 100 people.

The development comes after the Islamic State militant group on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the horrific attacks in Kerman, southeastern Iran. The country's Intelligence Ministry issued a statement saying that security forces detained two people for providing support to the two suicide bombers in Kerman.

Iran Arrests 11 in Relation to Bombings

The ministry also noted that officials detained nine other individuals in other parts of Iran who were suspected of being linked to the deadly incident. The two blasts were considered the deadliest such attacks in the nation since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Mourners wept on Friday over the victims' coffins as they were buried and crowds were heard chanting "revenge, revenge." Those who died were attending a memorial service for military commander General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in 2020 in Iraq by a U.S. drone, as per Reuters.

The two explosions took place amid a tense mood in the region amid Israel's ongoing conflict with the Hamas militant group in Gaza. The Iranian Intelligence Ministry said that its agents seized explosive devices and raw material, explosive vests, remote-control devices, detonators, and thousands of pellets used in explosive vests.

Officials also identified one of the suicide bombers as a Tajik national. On Thursday, the Islamic State said that two of its members detonated explosive belts in the crowd that had gathered for the memorial of the slain general.

During the funeral in Jerman's Imam Ali religious centre, Revolutionary Guards commander Major-General Hossein Salami said that they would find the people responsible for the incidents. In a televised address, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that his country's forces will decide on the place and time to take action against the terrorists.

ISIS claiming responsibility for the attacks comes as the group considers the Shia branch of Islam to be heretical and has continued to target shrines and religious sites across Iran. The terrorist group did not offer further proof of their claim and their account of the blasts differs from the one given by Iranian media, according to CNN.

Claiming Responsibility for the Attacks

On the other hand, Iranian officials did not immediately comment regarding ISIS's claim of responsibility. However, Iran's official state news agency IRNA, and its English-language state media outlet Press TV reported on the ISIS claim of responsibility.

The bombings come as Iran has, for years, justified its military presence in Iraq and Syria by saying that it is a strategy to keep terrorist groups at bay. Iranian officials have argued that fighting extremists directly or through proxy militias in the region meant that they did not have to fight them at home.

Despite ISIS' claim of responsibility for the two bombings, Iranian officials and pundits close to the government insisted that Israel is to blame. The media arm of the Revolutionary Guards, the Tasnim News Agency, went as far as claiming that "Israel ordered ISIS to take responsibility for the attack."

President Raisi also spoke at a ceremony in Kerman where he honored the victims on Friday. During his statements, he added that Iran would retaliate and laid blame on both Israel and the United States, said the New York Times.

Tags

Iran, Tehran, Bombings, ISIS, Islamic State