Iran arrests suspects over bomb blasts

Mourners on Friday wept over the coffins of victims of two deadly blasts in Iran, and the interior minister said a number of suspects had been arrested over the attacks claimed by Islamic State.

Crowds chanted “revenge, revenge” in state TV footage of the funerals in the city of Kerman, the scene of Wednesday’s explosions, the bloodiest such attacks in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Nearly 100 people were killed in the blasts at a memorial service for military commander General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in Iraq in 2020 by a U.S. drone.

The explosions took place amid a tense mood in the region as Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza neared the three-month mark.

Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told state TV a number of suspects had been arrested.

“Our country’s capable intelligence agencies have found very good clues regarding elements involved in the terrorist explosions in Kerman and a section of those who had a role in this incident have been arrested,” he said without elaborating.

Deputy Interior Minister Majid Mirahmadi said: “Various individuals have been arrested in five cities in five provinces, who have supported this incident or been linked to it. Details will be announced in the next few hours”, the state news agency reported.

Islamic State said on Thursday two of its members had detonated explosive belts in the crowd that had gathered for Soleimani’s memorial in the southeastern city.

“We will find you wherever you are,” Revolutionary Guards commander Major-General Hossein Salami said at the funeral in Kerman’s Imam Ali religious centre.

President Ebrahim Raisi said in a televised address. “Our forces will decide on the place and time to take action”.

In 2022, Islamic State claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a shrine in Iran that killed 15 people, while earlier attacks claimed by Islamic State include twin bombings in 2017 that targeted Iran’s parliament and the tomb of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.