The Islamic State (also known as ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh) has claimed responsibility for the suicide-bombing attacks in Iran at a memorial for Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. The attack is reported to have killed at least 100 people and wounded many more.
In a statement posted on its affiliate Telegram channels, the militant Sunni Muslim group said two IS members had detonated their explosive belts in the crowd which had gathered at the cemetery in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman on Wednesday for the anniversary of Soleimani's death.
Tehran earlier blamed the explosions on "terrorists" and vowed revenge for the bloodiest such attacks since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The twin blasts also wounded 284 people, including women and children.
"A very strong retaliation will be meted out to them by the hands of the soldiers of Soleimani," Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber told reporters in Kerman.
See Related: Explosions Rock Memorial Service for Iranian Terrorist Qasem Soleimani, Over 100 Killed
The Islamic State, being a Sunni, Wahabbist-oriented group, has historically been opposed to Shi'ite Iran.
In 2022 Islamic State claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a Shi'ite shrine in Iran which killed 15 people.
Earlier attacks claimed by Islamic State include twin bombings in 2017 which targeted Iran's parliament and the tomb of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The United States denied on Wednesday any involvement in the explosions and said it also had no reason to believe Israel was involved. It said the blasts appeared to represent "a terrorist attack" of the type carried out in the past by Islamic State.
The only thing that the Islamic State and Iran would appear to have in common is hatred for the United States and Israel; this commonality obviously does not prevent them from un-aliving each other whenever the opportunity presents itself. The Western world — indeed, all of the civilized world — would do well to count this as a bonus, because whenever these people are un-aliving each other, they have less time for causing trouble elsewhere.
The Shia/Sunni divide dates back to the beginning of Islam when, after the death of Mohammed, one group of his adherents felt that the Prophet's successor should be a guy named Abu Bakr, while the others chose to follow Ali. The former group became the Sunnis, and the latter, the Shi'ites; they started fighting amongst themselves almost immediately, starting with such events as the Battle of the Camel (yes, really) in 656 AD and the Battle of Sifin in 657 AD. Despite roughly 90 percent of the world's Muslim population being Sunni, the Shi'ites do have majorities in the populations of several Muslim nations. Iran is 90 percent Shi'ite, Iraq about 55 percent, and 30 percent in Yemen. Those are states whose names keep popping up in current events.
Tensions between Iran and Israel, along with its ally the United States, have reached a new high over Israel's war on Iran-backed Hamas militants in Gaza in retaliation for their Oct. 7 rampage through southern Israel.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia have attacked ships they say have links to Israel in the entrance to the Red Sea, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
The Middle East is a place where it seems like every day, some faction is squaring off against some other faction, and it's almost impossible to predict what might happen next — except, of course, that they all hate Israel and the United States.
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