Iran Links Kerman Attack to Daesh’s Afghan Proxy

Iran suffered the deadliest terror attack in its modern history on January 3 after twin suicide bombings killed 91 people and injured more than 280 others. The blasts targeted mourners in Kerman as people were commemorating the anniversary of late IRGC Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani’s death.

The Afghan offshoot of Daesh (ISIS)* was behind last week’s terrorist bombings in Kerman, and is looking to destabilize regional security, Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said.

“The root cause of the tragic terrorist attack in Kerman is the activities of Daesh terrorists in Afghanistan and their plots to foment insecurity in neighboring countries,” Ghalibaf said Monday, speaking to his Tajik counterpart, Rustam Emomali, in Tehran.

“In the current circumstances, we definitely need comprehensive cooperation in the fight against terrorism as well as arms and drug trafficking in Afghanistan,” Ghalibaf said.

The parliamentary speaker urged Afghanistan’s Taliban** authorities to incorporate all ethnic groups and political currents into the government to assure sustainable governance.

“This is the most important issue that regional nations, particularly Afghanistan’s neighbors, should take into account,” he said.

Emomali arrived in Iran on Monday for a two-day visit aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and discussing issues including security and terrorism.

Iran has detained 32 people in connection with the Kerman attack, and has indicated that one of the two suicide attackers responsible for the deadly incident was a Tajik national. Along with the two bombs which went off during a procession dedicated to late IRGC Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani, 16 other explosive devices were recently discovered throughout the province by the security services and disarmed, according to Kerman Prosecutor Mahdi Bakhshi. The terrorists also planned to plant explosives inside the cemetery itself, but were unable to do so due to the presence of local security forces.

Ninety-one people were killed and 284 injured in the January 3 attack, with Daesh claiming responsibility and IRGC Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani accusing the perpetrators of having been “supplied by the United States and the Zionist regime.” The US denied that Washington or Tel Aviv had anything to do with the attack, and told media that ISIS-K – Daesh’s Afghanistan proxy, was likely responsible.

Iranian officials including the late Commander Soleimani and Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have accused the US and its allies of conceiving, training, arming and funding Daesh in a bid to destabilize the region. The Afghani militia has been fighting ISIS-K in since 2015, with the conflict between them escalating after 2021 as the Taliban quickly swept through Afghanistan over the ruins of the US-backed puppet regime and established control over most of the country.

Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020 during a clandestine peace mission aimed at restoring Iran’s diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia.

Iran has ordered its border security along the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan to be beefed up in the wake of the Kerman attack.

* A terrorist group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

** An Afghan militant group under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.