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Iranian officials are downplaying a report by Wall Street Journal, citing an anonymous U.S. official stating that the United States government had warned the Iranian regime about a potential ISIS attack in Kerman one week before an attack that killed dozens of people. On January 26, the Iranian regime’s official news agency IRNA stated, “Informed sources have dismissed The Wall Street Journal’s assertion regarding the terrorist attack in Kerman. Additionally, a knowledgeable security official responded to the Wall Street Journal report by asserting, ‘If a security message was exchanged by the United States, it was intended to safeguard Washington from Iran’s retaliatory measures, especially in the wake of Israel’s recent Gaza war.’”
On January 3, two bombs detonated near the grave of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), during a gathering in his hometown Kerman, commemorating the anniversary of his death. The attack resulted in the deaths and injuries of dozens of Iranian citizens. Following the incident, the Iranian regime swiftly blamed Israel and the United States, while ISIS took responsibility for the attack after nearly 20 hours. The United States officially confirmed that its intelligence assessment also indicated that ISIS was behind the attack.
Immediately after the bombings, Iranians took to social media, expressing skepticism towards Tehran’s claims and pointing fingers at the regime’s involvement. Some argued that the Iranian regime, as the party responsible for the security of the attendees, bore the primary responsibility for the tragedy.
What #Iranian Regime’s Contradictions and Post-Kerman Bombing Power Displays Cannot Hidehttps://t.co/VOHBT3vNAj
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) January 8, 2024
Another point of contention was the absence of high-ranking Iranian officials, military commanders, or even members of Soleimani’s family from the Kerman gathering. Instead, they participated in state-organized ceremonies in Tehran or Iraq at the grave of Abu-Mahdi al-Muhandis, an important terrorist commander who was killed along with Soleimani during a U.S. drone strike in 2020. Many Iranians interpreted this absence as evidence of the regime’s prior knowledge of the planned attacks.
A video interview with a Kerman hospital director, who stated that the hospital had been placed on high alert in advance for such an incident, gained widespread attention on social media. The mounting accusations against the regime prompted them to fabricate various narratives in an attempt to deflect criticism. Notably, Soleimani’s daughter claimed to have had a dream in which her father warned her against attending the ceremony.
When questioned about whether the U.S. disclosure was an attempt to foster diplomatic engagement with Tehran or indicate intelligence cooperation between the two countries, Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, categorically denied any such relationship.
In light of the regime’s notorious reputation as a state sponsor of terrorism, and the fact that its senior officials are experts in bombing tactics, and its Interior Minister, Ahmad Vahidi, is on Interpol’s wanted list, the decision to proceed with the Kerman gathering despite the intelligence warning is highly questionable. It reflects the regime’s disregard for human life and suffering, even those it exploits as its followers.
Through infiltrating the websites and servers belonging to the #Iranian regime’s Presidential Organization, @ghiamsarnegouny has gained access to internal communications of the highest officials and their decision-making processes.https://t.co/N6xoqyWr5C
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 17, 2023
In 1994, following a bomb explosion in the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad that claimed the lives of dozens of Iranian citizens, Tehran immediately blamed the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). However, years later, several former security officials revealed that the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence was actually behind the explosion as a means to discredit the PMOI in both Iran’s society and international circles.
Furthermore, just a few days before the Kerman incident, Gholamreza Qasemian, the head of the parliamentary Document Center, stated that the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 by IRGC’s air defense system in 2020 was a false flag operation. He said that the regime, seeking to convince its domestic audience of the earnestness of its retaliatory attack on the Ain al-Assad American base in Iraq, purposely shot down the Ukrainian plane to shock the world.
