Two explosions are said to have killed 103 people at a cemetery in Kerman, where the former leader of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite force is buried. This is reported by AFP, which quotes the Iranian state broadcaster. Qassam Soleimani, the former head of the Revolutionary Guards’ elite force, was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq in January 2020. A memorial ceremony was held for him on Wednesday. People gather at the site of the explosion where the former leader of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite force is buried. Photo: WANA NEWS AGENCY / Reuters Iranian media reports that there have been two explosions at short intervals during the ceremony. Several people are said to be injured. It was first referred to as gas explosions by the state channel, then as a terrorist attack. Likely a terrorist attack – That it is a terrorist attack seems likely, says Nupi researcher Kjetil Selvik to news. He suspects that IS is behind the attack, and not Israel. – It is much more in line with how IS has attacked in the past, than how Israel has attacked Iran in the past. Researcher Kjetil Selvik at NUPI Photo: Eskil Wie Furunes / news Since 2017, IS has carried out a number of deadly terrorist attacks in Iran, he explains. The attacks have often occurred against mosques and religious gathering points. – Then of course it is this coincidence with the attack in Beirut that makes one wonder if Israel has anything to do with it. If so, it is a violent escalation and a new way for Israel to carry out attacks against Iran, according to Selvik. – But if the ripple effect of the war in Gaza were to reach Iranian territory, it would be dramatic. Danger of escalation On Tuesday, Hamas’ office in Lebanon was attacked. Israel is blamed for the attack, but says itself that it is not behind it. Six people were killed, according to the Lebanese broadcaster. Several of them belonged to Hamas, according to the group itself. Among others, the Hamas liaison in Beirut, Saleh al-Arouri. Al-Arouri was deputy head of Hamas’s Politburo and considered one of Hamas’s great military strategists. – If Israel is behind the attack, it is an escalation in two ways. Among other things, there is an expansion of the fronts on which Israel is in conflict with Hamas. That’s what Jørgen Jensehaugen says. He is a senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Prio. Jørgen Jensehaugen is a senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Prio. Photo: Høyskolen Inlandet Israel has long said that it is willing to take the fight against Hamas into the region, outside Gaza and the West Bank. Yesterday’s attack is proof that they are willing to carry it out, says the PRIO researcher. High stakes Until now, Israel and Hezbollah have attacked each other steadily, but usually against military targets on either side of the border crossing. The two parties have thus had an “understanding of what is the right response to an attack”. The attack in Beirut, on the other hand, took place on Hezbollah’s home turf, and with that Israel may have broken the unwritten rule, according to Jensehaugen. – What Israel has done now is very high stakes, he says.
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