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Iran
Jan 4, 2024 14:22:01 GMT
Post by Admin on Jan 4, 2024 14:22:01 GMT
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two bombs exploded and killed at least 84 people at a commemoration for a prominent Iranian general slain by the U.S. in a 2020 drone strike, Iranian officials said, as the Middle East remains on edge over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. No one immediately claimed responsibility for what appeared to be the deadliest militant attack to target Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran’s leaders vowed to punish those responsible for the blasts, which wounded at least 284 people. The explosions struck minutes apart on Wednesday, shaking the city of Kerman, about 820 kilometers (510 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran. The second blast sprayed shrapnel into a screaming crowd fleeing the first explosion. An earlier death toll of 103 was twice revised lower after officials realized that some names had been repeated on a list of victims and due to the severity of wounds suffered by some of the dead, health authorities said. Many of the wounded were in critical condition, however, so the death toll could rise. The gathering marked the fourth anniversary of the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq. The explosions occurred near his grave site as long lines of people gathered for the event. Iranian state television and officials described the attacks as bombings, without immediately giving clear details of what happened. The attacks came a day after a deputy head of the Palestinian militant group Hamas was killed in a suspected Israeli strike in Beirut. The first bomb Wednesday was detonated around 3 p.m., and the other went off some 20 minutes later, the Iranian interior minister, Ahmad Vahidi, told state television. He said the second blast killed and wounded the most people.
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Iran
Jan 4, 2024 23:06:05 GMT
Post by Admin on Jan 4, 2024 23:06:05 GMT
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the deadly twin blasts near the burial site of slain military commander Qasem Soleimani in southern Iran.
At least 84 people were killed and 284 injured in the blasts on Wednesday, state-run news agency IRNA reported, in what was the deadliest attack in Iran since its 1979 revolution.
ISIS media wing Al-Furqan issued a statement on Thursday – more than 24 hours after the explosions – claiming two suicide bombers, who are brothers, had detonated their explosive vests as Shiite mourners gathered for the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Soleimani near his grave in his hometown of Kerman.
The statement, titled “And Kill Them Wherever You Find Them,” named the two bombers and said they targeted a gathering of “polytheists” near the grave of their “dead leader” Soleimani.
ISIS considers the Shia branch of Islam to be heretical and has targeted shrines and religious sites in Iran previously.
The group offered no further proof and their account of the blasts differs from that given by Iranian media. The death toll provided by ISIS was also significantly higher than that reported by Iranian officials.
Iran did not immediately comment on ISIS’ claim of responsibility. But Iran’s official state news agency IRNA, as well as its English-language state media outlet Press TV, both reported on the ISIS claim of responsibility.
Both referred to the group by its Arabic name “Daesh”, with IRNA posting a screenshot of the terror group’s claim that has appeared on multiple ISIS forums.
Press TV added in their reporting that in a statement posted on its affiliate Telegram channels, the Islamic State had claimed that two of its members had detonated explosive belts.
Iran’s interior minister said the two blasts happened in short succession, with the second, deadlier blast coming as others rushed to help the wounded.
Another state media outlet, IRINN, said the first explosion was caused by a bomb placed in a suitcase inside a car and appeared to have been detonated remotely rather than being caused by a suicide bomber.
Videos showed large numbers of people running in the area after the explosions, bloodied bodies on the ground and ambulances driving through the packed crowds.
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Iran
Jan 12, 2024 13:04:52 GMT
Post by Admin on Jan 12, 2024 13:04:52 GMT
Istanbul Current Affairs] Both the United States and the United Kingdom have attacked the Houthi rebel group, a pro-Iranian militant group in Yemen, raising the risk that the fighting in Gaza, the Palestinian autonomous region, will spread to other parts of the Middle East.
The possibility of future retaliation from the Houthis, who are backed by Iran and are showing their presence as the spearhead of the anti-Israel movement, cannot be ruled out, and tensions in the Middle East could rise even further.
On the 12th, a spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the attacks by the United States and Britain, saying they would "fuel instability in the region." "This is an attempt to distract from war crimes in Palestine," he said.
What happened was a conflict between Israel and the Islamic organization Hamas. The Houthis, along with the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and others, are part of the Axis of Resistance, which shows solidarity with Hamas, and has repeatedly launched drone and ballistic missile attacks on Israel and attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
The United States and the United Kingdom increasingly believe that Iran, which does not want to engage in direct war with Israel or the United States, is supporting the hardline stance of proxy forces such as the Houthis.
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Iran
Jan 12, 2024 19:12:14 GMT
Post by Admin on Jan 12, 2024 19:12:14 GMT
The US and UK launched airstrikes against Houthis rebels in Yemen, in retaliation to their attacks on ships in the Red Sea. FOX 5 NY's Lissette Nuñez has the latest.
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Iran
Jan 13, 2024 0:44:30 GMT
Post by Admin on Jan 13, 2024 0:44:30 GMT
On the 11th, the US military, together with the British military, carried out airstrikes against the strongholds of the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, which has repeatedly attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea.
Kirby pointed out that the airstrike was "aimed at destroying the Houthis' ability to attack (commercial ships)." He explained that he was analyzing how much damage was actually caused. Biden also revealed that he had decided to launch an airstrike that afternoon in response to a large-scale attack on a commercial ship by the Houthis on the 9th of this month.
Meanwhile, a senior U.S. military official told reporters on the 12th that the Houthis fired at least one anti-ship missile after the U.S. and British airstrikes, but it did not hit any ships. According to the British Maritime Organization (UKMTO), there were reports that a missile was fired at a civilian ship in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen on the 12th, but it is unclear whether this was the case. "We expect that the Houthis will try to retaliate in some way," the official said.
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