ISIS claims responsibility of Iran’s bombings:
The two bombings that took place in Iran on Wednesday, which are said to have killed 103 people, have been attributed to ISIS. According to an ISIS statement released on Thursday, two suicide bombers detonated explosives in their jackets near the burial site of Iranian Commander General Qasem Soleimani, where hundreds had gathered. General Soleimani was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2020.
The statement did not provide further details about the dual explosions in Iran or specify which branch of the Islamic State carried out the attack.
But the way the explosives are carried out is consistent with how ISIS has attacked its targets in the past.
Deep grief over this tragedy, which is one of the worst attacks on Iran since the Islamic Revolution began in 1979, is felt throughout the country.
🚨 At least 103 people have been killed and over 170 injured by two bomb explosions near the tomb of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani on the fourth anniversary of his assassination by the US, #Iran's state media report.#Iranblast #Yemen #RedSea #GazaGenocides #earthquake pic.twitter.com/2t2OV4GlnT
— Talha Ch (@Talhaofficial01) January 4, 2024
President Ibrahim Raisi and his government officials suggested that the United States and Israel were involved in the attack. Raisi issued a caution, saying, “I send a clear message to the Israeli government: be certain that the consequences of this wrongdoing and your past actions will carry a substantial cost.”
Mohammad Jamsidi, the Deputy Head of Iran’s political office, expressed skepticism about the U.S. claims, saying, “Washington says there was no role for the United States and Israel in the terrorist attacks in country. Really? A fox first smells its own den.”
He emphasized, “Do not make a mistake. America and the Zionist regime (Israel) are responsible for this crime, and terrorism is just a tool.”
The assault, as per certain analysts, diverged from the typical Israeli strike blueprint on Iranian locations, contradicting the official narrative. The International Crisis Group’s Ali Vaez, who is in charge of the Iran Project, stated that the strategy used in the attack is more in line with the beliefs of the Islamic State.
Regarding ISIS, details about the perpetrators and their motives remain unclear. While the Washington Institute for Near East Policy specialist Aaron Zelin mentioned that more information is needed to confirm the attack’s authors and objectives, he pointed out that ISIS-Khorasan, located in neighboring Afghanistan, could be involved.
Tehran has accused ISIS of multiple unsuccessful conspiracies in the past five years, with many of the arrested individuals having connections to the ISIS networks in Afghanistan, rather than Iraq and Syria.
ISIS consistently focuses its attacks on Shiites, reflecting its profound hostility towards the primary sect in Iran. Tehran, in turn, views ISIS as a terrorist tool wielded by its staunch enemies, Israel and the United States.
There have been occasional assaults in Iran as a result of the ongoing hostility between it and ISIS. Instances of such incidents encompass the tragic explosion at a Shia religious site in 2022 and the simultaneous twin bombings in 2017 targeting Iranian parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The recent event aligns temporally with escalating tensions between Israel and Gaza, coupled with extensive anti-Israel and anti-US demonstrations in Iran.
#IranBlast : At least 103 killed in 'terrorist attacks' near Soleimani's tomb #WIONOriginals pic.twitter.com/37m4Hyt27j
— WION (@WIONews) January 3, 2024
The US has categorically denied the accusation that ISIS was responsible for previous “terrorist attacks” that caused these explosions.
On January 3, 2020, the United States carried out a drone strike at Baghdad International Airport, leading to the killing of Qasem Soleimani.
Iran and the US were on the verge of a major confrontation when Tehran retaliated by firing missiles at two US-occupied military installations in Iraq.
An wide campaign across the Middle East was greatly aided by Qasem Soleimani, the architect of covert operations overseas and the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps’ foreign arm, the Quds Force.
Tensions in an already fragile region skyrocketed after this strike. The U.S. frequently saw Soleimani’s actions as provocative, which set off a chain reaction of reciprocal actions.
