Explosions at a memorial ceremony for a top Iranian general killed more than 100 people and injured more than a hundred others, according to Iran state media.
Two blasts occurred at a memorial service marking the fourth anniversary of the death of General Qassem Soleimani, the former head of the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, according to The Associated Press. The general died in January 2020 in a U.S. drone strike.
The number of dead is expected to climb as many of the over 170 wounded sustained critical injuries. Some were wounded by the blasts, and others were injured in the chaotic scene that followed as people fled the area.
The blasts took place about 15 minutes apart at Soleimani’s gravesite in the Iranian city of Kerman, located about 500 miles southeast of Tehran. The deputy governor of Kerman, Soleimani’s hometown, told Iran state media that the blasts were from a “terrorist attack,” according to The Washington Post. No group has claimed responsibility for the incident.
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Videos surfaced online shortly after the explosions showing people fleeing the area. Prior to the incident, Iran state media showed footage of a procession to honor Soleimani of thousands of people.
The blasts come amid heightened tensions in the Middle East as Israel wages war against the terrorist group Hamas and Iran’s proxies threaten Western and international interests across the region, according to CNN. Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon threatens Israel’s north, while the Iran-backed Houthis threaten international trade through the Red Sea from the south of Yemen. Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria have launched missile attacks on U.S. and Israeli military installations.
Soleimani was head of the Quds Force, an elite military group that handled Iran’s operations overseas when he was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Iraq ordered by former President Donald Trump. The U.S. recognizes the Quds Force as a terrorist organization. Soleimani and his troops were “responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more,” according to the Pentagon.