Iran’s president and the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vowed revenge during Friday’s televised funeral for the victims of twin Islamic State bombings that occurred on Wednesday.
Nearly 100 people were killed during a memorial in Kerman for top commander Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in Iraq in 2020 by a U.S. drone.
Islamic State claimed responsibility on Thursday for the attack, stating that two of its members detonated explosive belts among the crowd gathered at the cemetery in the southeastern city.
IRGC commander Major-General Hossein Salami, addressing the Islamic State during the funeral, declared, ‘We will find you wherever you are. Even if you live for a thousand years, we will locate you. I assure the Iranian people that we are in a serious fight but we will defeat them.’
President Ebrahim Raisi also spoke, saying, ‘Our enemies recognize Iran’s power. Our forces will decide when and where to respond.’
In 2022, Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on a Shi’ite shrine in Iran that killed 15 people. The group has also claimed twin bombings in 2017 targeting Iran’s parliament and the tomb of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.”
