‘Shocked and saddened’: India in solidarity with people of Iran after Kerman bombings

Taking to X, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “We are shocked and saddened on the terrible bombings in the Kerman City of Iran. At this difficult time, we express our solidarity with the government and people of Iran.”

We are shocked and saddened on the terrible bombings in the Kerman City of Iran. At this difficult time, we express our solidarity with the government and people of Iran.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims and with the wounded.

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) January 4, 2024

According to Iranian officials, the blasts killed more than 100 people and injured scores at a ceremony to commemorate top commander Qassem Soleimani who was killed by a U.S. drone in 2020. “Two explosive devices planted along the road leading to Kerman’s Martyrs’ Cemetery were detonated remotely by terrorists,” an unnamed official told the state news agency IRNA.

Jaiswal added: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims and with the wounded.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards and First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber on Thursday vowed to avenge the attack — biggest since 1979 Islamic Revolution, reported Reuters. “A very strong retaliation will be handed to them on the hands of the soldiers of Soleimani,” Mokhber said while speaking to the media at a hospital where some of the wounded were being treated.

Numerous videos across Iranian media showed bodies strewn around the blast site with some bystanders trying to aid the survivors while others rushing to leave the area.

Even as no one claimed responsibility for the explosions, a senior US official said they appeared to represent “a terrorist attack” of the type carried out by Islamic State militants in the past.