ISIS claims responsibility for deadliest attack in Iran since Islamic Revolution

ISIS claimedresponsibility on Thursday fortwo explosionsinIranthat killed nearly 100 people and wounded scores at a memorial for top commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. dronein Iraq in 2020.

In astatement posted on its affiliate Telegram channels, the militant Sunni Muslim group said two ISISmembers had detonated their explosive belts in the crowd thathad gathered at the cemetery in the southeasternIranian city of Kerman on Wednesday for the anniversary of Soleimani's death.

Tehran earlier blamed the explosions on "terrorists" and vowed revenge for the bloodiest such attacksince the 1979IslamicRevolution. The twin blasts also wounded 284 people, including women and children.

"A very strong retaliation will bemeted out to them bythe hands of the soldiers of Soleimani,"Iran's first vice-president, Mohammad Mokhber, told reporters in Kerman.

Earlier, anunnamed source told thestatenews agency IRNA that the first explosion at the cemetery in Kerman, Soleimani's hometown,"was the result of a suicide bomber's action."

"The cause of the second blast was most likely the same," the source told IRNA.

WATCH | Deadly blastsat event celebrating Iranian general:

Explosions kill dozens at event honouring Iranian general

8 months ago

Duration 2:05

Warning: Video contains graphics images | At least 95 people were killed after two bombs exploded at an event honouring prominent Iranian general Qassam Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in 2020. No one has taken responsibility for the attack.

The United Nations Security Council in astatement condemned Wednesday's "cowardly terrorist attack" in Kerman and sent its condolences to the victims' families and theIranian government.

StateTV showed crowds gathered at dozens of cities acrossIranchanting: "Death to Israel" and "Death to America."

Iranian authorities have called for mass protests on Friday, when the funerals of the victims ofthetwin blasts will be held,statemedia reported.

'Heinous and inhumane crime'

Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps described the attacks as a cowardly act "aimed at creating insecurity and seeking revenge against the nation's deep love and devotion to theIslamicRepublic."

The Guards commander in Kerman deniedstatemedia reports of a shooting in Kerman on Thursday.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has condemnedWednesday's"heinous and inhumane crime."Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, vowed revenge for the bombings.

In 2022,ISISclaimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a Shiashrine inIran thatkilled 15 people.

Earlier attacks claimed by ISISinclude twin bombings in 2017 thattargetedIran's parliament and the tomb of theIslamicRepublic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The UnitedStatesdenied on Wednesday any involvementin the explosions andsaid it alsohad no reason to believe Israel wasinvolved.Itsaidthe blasts appeared to represent "a terrorist attack" of the type carried out in the past by ISIS.

Tehran often accuses its arch enemies, Israel and the U.S., of backing anti-Iranmilitant groups that have carried out attacks against theIslamicRepublic in the past. Baluchi militants and ethnic Arab separatists have also staged attacks inIran.

Tensions rising between Iran, Israel

The U.S. assassination of Soleimani in a 2020 drone attack at Baghdad airportand Tehran's retaliation by attacking two Iraqi military bases that house U.S. troops brought the U.S.andIranclose to full-blown conflict.

As chief commander of the elite Quds force, the overseas arm ofIran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, Soleimani ran clandestine operations abroad and was a key figure inIran's long-standing campaign to drive U.S. forces from the Middle East.

Tensions betweenIranand Israel, along with its ally the U.S., have reached a new high over Israel'swaronIran-backed Hamas militants in Gaza in retaliation for their Oct. 7 rampage through southern Israel.

On Thursday, aU.S. airstrike on the headquarters of an Iran-backed militia in centralBaghdadkilled a high-ranking militia commander.

The Popular Mobilization Force, or PMF, a coalition of militias that is nominally under the control of the Iraqi military, announced in a statement that its deputy head of operations inBaghdad, identified as Abu Taqwa, had been killed "as aresult of brutal American aggression."

A U.S. defence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide information that has not yet been publicly released, confirmed details of the strike Thursday, saying that Abu Taqwa was targeted because he was actively involved in attacks on U.S. personnel. Abu Taqwa was identified as a leader of the Harakat al-Nujaba group.

That group, one of the militias within PMF,was designated a terrorist organization by Washington in 2019.

Yemen'sIran-backed Houthi militia have attacked ships they say have links to Israel in the entrance to theRed Sea, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

U.S. forces havecome under attackfromIran-backed militants in Iraq and Syria over Washington's backing of Israel and have carried out their own retaliatory airstrikes.