Terrorist Attack in Iran Kills 84, Injures Hundreds

Twin explosions erupted in the midst of a large crowd on Wednesday in Kerman, Iran. The crowd was commemorating the four-year anniversary of Iranian military officer Qassem Suleimani’s assassination. The attack has heightened tensions in the conflict-ridden Middle East. Iran has vowed retaliation.

At least 84 were killed and another 200 injured in the attack. This makes it the deadliest attack in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Casting blame: Responsibility for the attack has yet to be claimed, and current evidence is insufficient to pinpoint the perpetrator. But many in the Middle East and beyond immediately pointed the finger at the Israeli government.

I warn the Zionist regime [of Israel], do not doubt that you will pay a heavy price for this crime and the crimes you have committed.
—Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi

One X user tweeted, “The Zionist/American terrorists killed nearly 100 mourners at Qassem Suleimani’s grave. The terroristic nature of this empire is apparent to anyone with eyes to see.”

Is Israel guilty? Hassan Ahmadian, professor of Middle East studies at the University of Tehran, said about the bombing:

[The Islamic State] has shown that it is willing to do [kill large numbers of civilians]. Israel might have wanted to escalate against Iran to force it to do something that would drag the United States [into a conflict] against Iran. These are all possibilities.

It seems much more likely that the anti-Iran Islamic State would carry out this kind of attack; the group is known for indiscriminately attacking civilians. Suleimani himself did a lot to push the Islamic State out of Iraq.

Mossad does not usually strike in this manner. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said there is no reason to believe Israel was behind the attack. The claim that Israel would orchestrate this to drag America into conflict with Iran is unconvincing; other than a few attempts to feign peacekeeping, the Biden administration has shown its anti-Israel ideology.

Though Israel hasn’t been ruled out as the perpetrator, there is not enough supporting evidence to back these immediate accusations.

Rising tensions: The unsubstantiated accusations against Israel show how much anti-Israel sentiments have soared since October 7, and it seems this has no end in sight.

Both these rising tensions and their culmination were prophesied in the Bible thousands of years ago. The book of Zechariah shows how a Palestinian uprising reminiscent of Hamas’s October 7 invasion is yet to come. But this prophesied attack will be far more effective than Hamas’s. It will result in a significant amount of key Jewish territory falling into Palestinian hands.

Learn more: Read “Jerusalem: About to Explode.”