The group, which has struck before in Iran, has a long history of division with the country.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Thursday for the bombing attack that killed 84 people in Kerman, Iran, a day before, during a memorial procession for Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, according to a post on the extremist group’s official Telegram account.

The extremist group called the attack a “dual martyrdom operation,” and described how two militants approached a ceremony at the tomb of General Suleimani and detonated explosive belts strapped to their bodies “near the grave of the hypocrite leader.”

The general, a widely revered and feared Iranian military officer who was the architect of an Iranian-led and -funded alliance of Shiite groups across the Middle East, was assassinated four years ago in an American drone attack.

The Islamic State, a Sunni Muslim organization, considers its mission to kill apostate Muslims, including Shiites. Iran, a majority-Shiite country, is led by a theocratic government in which Shiite clerics are in charge.

Archive

    • WhatsThePoint@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Psychopaths be psychopaths. Religion isn’t holding any truly evil person back. I doubt the handful of people that actually would commit crimes, but were “stopped” because of their religion outweighs the number of people who murder in the name of religion.