Iran vows revenge after more than 100 killed in blasts near tomb of former commander
Iran has vowed revenge after more than 100 people were killed in two explosions near the tomb of a general.
At the time of the explosions a ceremony was being held in the city of Kerman to mark the 2020 assassination of Iran’s top commander Qassem Soleimani.
Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi said the attack was “heinous and inhumane”, while Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has vowed to get revenge.
According to state media, he said: “Cruel criminals […] must know that they will be strongly dealt with from now on and […] undoubtedly there will be a harsh response.”
Pic: AP
Kerman’s mayor, Saeed Tabrizi, told Iran’s state-run ISNA news agency that the blasts took place about 10 minutes apart.
Local media reports suggest more than 140 people were injured.
Kerman’s deputy governor Rahman Jalali described the blasts as “terroristic attacks” – without elaborating on who could be behind them.
The United States has said it was not involved in the explosions in Iran in any way and has no reason to believe Israel was either.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon, has blamed Israel for the explosions and said those who died were “targeted”.
The Hezbollah leader also paid tribute to Soleimani and said: “Even in his tomb, he is living. In his martyrdom, his life has become stronger, more present.
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Who was Qassem Soleimani?
“We see him in our rockets, in our homes, in the tears of the children.”
Soleimani, once Iran’s top military general, was assassinated in a US drone strike during a visit to Iraq to meet then prime minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.
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Qassem Soleimani. File pic
Iran’s Tasnim news agency, quoting two unnamed sources, reported that “two bags carrying bombs went off” at the site and that the “perpetrators … of this incident apparently detonated the bombs by remote control”.
Tehran has enemies both internally and externally.
Israel has in the past been accused of carrying out drone strikes on Iranian military facilities, while Sunni extremist groups such as Islamic State have carried out bombings, often on civilian targets, in the majority Shia nation.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s blasts.
It comes a day after Hamas’s deputy leader Saleh al Arouri died in an explosion in Beirut.
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Smoke rises in the background following the explosions. Pic: SNNTV
An ambulance arrives at the scene
The drone strike that killed Soleimani caused a major diplomatic crisis between the US and Iran, leading to retaliatory rocket strikes against US military sites in Iraq and pushing the two countries to the brink of war.
More than a million people took to the streets for Soleimani’s funeral – leading to a stampede in which 56 mourners were killed.
Having served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Soleimani became one of the country’s top commanders.
A national hero to supporters of Iran’s theocratic regime, he was often touted as the country’s second most powerful figure, behind only Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
He was the commander of the Quds Force – a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Cops responsible for spying and military operations outside of Iran.
More than a million people took to the streets for the funeral (pictured) of Soleimani following his assassination in 2020
The group was deemed a terrorist organisation by the US.
They claimed Soleimani oversaw Quds Force officers as they tried and failed to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US Adel al Jubeir at the upscale Cafe Milano in Washington in 2011.
Soleimani was also regarded as the mastermind of Iran’s military operations in Iraq and Syria and influential in the development of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” – categorised as the “Axis of Evil” by Western officials – involving Iran and Iranian-backed militias including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza.
Around 14 million people could die across the world over the next five years because of cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), researchers have warned.
Children under five are expected to make up around a third (4.5 million) of the mortalities, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal.
Estimates showed that “unless the abrupt funding cuts announced and implemented in the first half of 2025 are reversed, a staggering number of avoidable deaths could occur by 2030”.
“Beyond causing millions of avoidable deaths – particularly among the most vulnerable – these cuts risk reversing decades of progress in health and socioeconomic development in LMICs [low and middle-income countries],” the report said.
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USAID programmes have prevented the deaths of more than 91 million people, around a third of them among children, the study suggests.
The agency’s work has been linked to a 65% fall in deaths from HIV/AIDS, or 25.5 million people.
Eight million deaths from malaria, more than half the total, around 11 million from diarrheal diseases and nearly five million from tuberculosis (TB), have also been prevented.
USAID has been vital in improving global health, “especially in LMICs, particularly African nations,” according to the report.
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Established in 1961, the agency was tasked with providing humanitarian assistance and helping economic growth in developing countries, especially those deemed strategic to Washington.
But the Trump administration has made little secret of its antipathy towards the agency, which became an early victim of cuts carried out by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – formerly led by Elon Musk – in what the US government said was part of a broader plan to remove wasteful spending.
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What is USAID?
In March, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said more than 80% of USAID schemes had been closed following a six-week review, leaving around 1,000 active.
The US is the world’s largest humanitarian aid donor, providing around $61bn (£44bn) in foreign assistance last year, according to government data, or at least 38% of the total, and USAID is the world’s leading donor for humanitarian and development aid, the report said.
Between 2017 and 2020, the agency responded to more than 240 natural disasters and crises worldwide – and in 2016 it sent food assistance to more than 53 million people across 47 countries.
The study assessed all-age and all-cause mortality rates in 133 countries and territories, including all those classified as low and middle-income, supported by USAID from 2001 to 2021.
Thailand’s prime minister has been suspended after a leaked phone call with a senior Cambodian politician caused outrage.
An ethics investigation into Paetongtarn Shinawatra is under way and she could end up being dismissed.
The country’s constitutional court took up a petition from 36 senators, who claimed dishonesty and a breach of ethical standards, and voted 7 to 2 to suspend her.
Protesters gathered in Bangkok at the weekend. Pic: Reuters
The prime minister’s call with Cambodia’s former leader, Hun Sen, sparked public protests after she tried to appease him and criticised a Thai army commander – a taboo move in a country where the military is extremely influential.
Ms Shinawatra was trying to defuse mounting tensions at the border – which in May resulted in the death of one Cambodian soldier.
Thousands of conservative, nationalist protesters held a demo in Bangkok on Saturday to urge her to step down.
Her party is clinging on to power after another group withdrew from their alliance a few weeks ago over the phone call. Calls for a no-confidence vote are likely.
Deputy prime minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit will take over temporarily while the court looks into the case.
The 38-year-old prime minister – Thailand‘s youngest ever leader – has 15 days to respond to the probe. She has apologised and said her approach in the call was a negotiating tactic.
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The popularity of her government has slumped recently, with an opinion poll showing an approval rating of 9.2%, down from 30.9% in March.
Ms Shinawatra comes from a wealthy dynasty synonymous with Thai politics.
Her father Thaksin Shinawatra – a former Manchester City owner – and aunt Yingluck Shinawatra served as prime minister before her – in the early to mid 2000s – and their time in office also ended ignominiously amid corruption charges and military coups.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be meeting Donald Trump next Monday, according to US officials.
The visit on 7 July comes after Mr Trump suggested it was possible a ceasefire in Gaza could be reached within a week.
On Sunday, he wrote on social media: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”
At least 60 people killed across Gaza on Monday, in what turned out to be some of the heaviest attacks in weeks.
Benjamin Netanyahu, left, with Donald Trump during a previous meeting. Pic: Reuters
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, 56,500 people have been killed in the 20-month war.
The visit by Mr Netanyahu to Washington has not been formally announced and the officials who said it would be going ahead spoke on condition of anonymity.
An Israeli official in Washington also confirmed the meeting next Monday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was in constant communication with the Israeli government.
She said Mr Trump viewed ending the war in Gaza and returning remaining hostages held by Hamas as a top priority.
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The war in Gaza broke out in retaliation for Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw a further 250 taken hostage.
An eight-week ceasefire was reached in the final days of Joe Biden’s US presidency, but Israel resumed the war in March after trying to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps.
Talks between Israel and Hamas have stalled over whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire.
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