Iran’s Intelligence Ministry: 35 arrested over Kerman terrorist attack

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry says 35 individuals have been arrested over involvement in the recent terrorist bombings in the southeastern city of Kerman.

According to Press TV, the ministry, in its second statement on the incident on Thursday, said its forces are proceeding with a process to identify the perpetrators and masterminds of the twin suicide bombings as well as the people related to Takfiri terrorists inside and outside the country.

“So far, 35 people have been detained in the provinces of Kerman, Sistan and Baluchestan, Khorasan Razavi, Esfahan, Tehran and West Azarbaijan,” it explained.

It added that a number of the criminals involved in the tragedy have been also identified abroad and serious efforts are underway to pursue them.

The terrorist bombings, which were claimed by the Daesh (ISIS) terrorist group, occurred on January 3 near the burial site of Iran’s iconic anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani during a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of his martyrdom. The blasts left at least 94 people dead.

It is the ministry’s duty and it reserves the right to prosecute and bring to justice the criminals and all the agents outside the country who played a role in the massacring of dozens of innocent people in the terrorist blasts, said the statement.

It also emphasized that the ministry would not rest until the full realization of its goals.

According to the results obtained so far, the mastermind and main supporter of the criminal operation in question was a Tajik person, under the alias Abdullah Tajiki, the statement read.

He illegally entered the country through southeastern borders, along with a woman and a child, on December 19 and was transferred to Kerman, it said.

It also noted that in addition to directing the operation, Tajiki was an expert in making handmade bombs. After combining various explosive and electric detonators and producing the bombs, he left the country two days before the tragic incident.

Iran's Intelligence Ministry identified the second Kerman terrorist suspect as a 24-year-old Israeli with Tajik citizenship, named Bazirov, and said he joined Daesh after becoming acquainted with the terrorist group via Telegram social platform.

The ministry added that important clues have been found about the identity of the second suspect which would be revealed after completion of information.

The statement gave further details about the day of the attack, saying at 13:03 and 13:14 local time, the suspects went separately to the place where the ceremony was scheduled to be held.

It emphasized that the main goal of the terrorists was to detonate General Soleimani's tomb but they changed their plan after witnessing strong and multi-layered security measures and the deployment of police forces and equipment.

They then decided to implement their evil plan in relatively distant places, it noted.

According to the ministry, the first terrorist detonated his explosive vest at 14:55 local time around 700 meters away from General Soleimani's tomb and the second terrorist detonated his vest at 15:15 around 1,000 meters away.

Iran has pledged a fitting, harsh response to the perpetrators of the attack, vowing the deadly crime will not go unpunished.  

SS