Iran arrests 11, death toll rises to 91 from twin suicide bombings
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Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Iranian officials have announced the arrest of 11 people in connection with a pair of deadly suicide bombings in the southeastern city of Kerman on Wednesday.
Iran's Ministry of Information revealed Friday that one of the suicide bombers was from Tajikistan and raised the toll from the twin blasts to 91 deaths and 280 injuries.
After identifying how the suicide bombers entered Iran, investigators determined where they stayed prior to the attack and have now arrested 11 people in six provinces, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bombings that occurred at the tomb of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Qasem Soleimani in Kerman, Iran, Wednesday. The Iranians were holding a memorial service when the suicide bombings occurred four years after the U.S. military used a drone to assassinate Soleimani in Baghdad in January 2020.
The attack is the deadliest event in Iran since the 1979 revolution. A mass funeral was held in Kerman Friday morning for the victims of the attack on Wednesday. Iran's Pres. Ebrahim Raisi and current IRGC commander Gen. Hossein Salami attended.
During the mass funeral, Raisi claimed Israel supports the Islamic State and said the names of the two suicide bombers are Omer al-Mohed and Safiullah Mujahid, Turkish news outlet Anadolu Ajansi reported Saturday. The two men wore vests laden with explosives to commit the mass-casualty attack.
Iranian officials said they will continue to investigate and arrest more people who assisted the suicide bombers in any way. They discovered additional equipment for carrying out attacks at a residence used by the suicide bombers, including two explosive vests, two detonators and two remote-control devices, official media said.
The U.S. military undertook a "decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad" when President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Soleimani, the Pentagon said in a statement issued on Jan. 2, 2020.
Soleimani led a Quds Force that Washington says killed hundreds of U.S. and coalition service members and wounded thousands of others in a series of coordinated attacks on bases in Iraq in the months prior to his assassination.
One such strike was a Dec. 31, 2019, attack on the Green Zone of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad carried out by Iraqi Hezbollah militiamen.
