Iran to Make More Arrests over Kerman Attack: Minister


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – While a considerable number of individuals have been captured in connection with a January 3 terrorist attack in the southern city of Kerman, Iranian security forces are going to make more arrests in this regard, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a weekly cabinet session on Wednesday, Vahidi said many people, including the main elements of the terrorist attack, have already been arrested.

The other elements will also be identified and captured, he added.

The interior minister said the main perpetrator of the terrorist attack was a Tajik national, raising the probability that the second element also has Tajik nationality.

“The terrorists had illegally crossed the border from a neighboring country,” Vahidi added.

Last week’s twin blasts at an event held in commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the martyrdom of late commander Lt. General Qassem Soleimani in Kerman resulted in the tragic loss of at least 93 lives, including 9 children, and left nearly 300 individuals injured, with some in critical condition.

The Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has warned that those behind the terrorist act will receive a severe response.