Iran holds mass funeral, vows to find terrorists 'wherever they are'

Iranians held a mass funeral for the victims of twin terrorist bombings in Kerman with a top Iranian military commander pledging to find the terrorists behind the attack "wherever they are."  

Thousands of people along with high-ranking Iranian officials, including President Ebrahim Raeisi, attended the funeral in the southern Iranian city. 

The terrorist attack left at least 84 people dead and 285 others injured at a ceremony that was held to honor anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani four years after his assassination by the United States.

Other than Kerman, other cities across the country hosted rallies following Friday prayers where people condemned the terrorist attack and supporters of terrorism while chanting slogans against the US and the Israeli regime. 

Addressing the ceremony in Kerman, chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami said that the members of the terrorist outfit involved in the recent bombing attack in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman will be identified and brought to justice “wherever they are.”

Calling Daesh the US policy outcome in the Islamic world, Salami said the terrorist group sought to “draw a new map,” and establish a caliphate in the Muslim world but was defeated thanks to General Soleimani’s sacrifices.

“Daesh has vanished and there is no trace of them on the political map of the world and they are lost and lodged in the kennels,” the IRGC chief said.

“They can only act as agents and mercenaries of America and Zionism,” he added. “But we give them this warning; if you are brave enough, fight us, why are you killing defenseless women and children?”

Salami also underlined that such crimes are a reflection of the severe defeats that have been inflicted on the global arrogance and its regional and internal agents in recent years.

“We will find you wherever you are!” he said of terrorists.

“Note that you cannot get away from divine punishment by disappearing, and even if you live for a thousand years, we will find you… we will take revenge of all our martyrs from our enemies.”

Pointing to the crowds of people paying homage to General Soleimani and attending his burial site even after the bombing attacks, Salami said, “This is not a nation that will kowtow to the enemy with martyrdom. We heard the Leader’s order and we will continue to fulfill it.”

In a statement on Wednesday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the perpetrators of the twin terrorist attacks in Kerman will face a fitting punishment and a harsh response.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the heinous act in a statement posted on its affiliate Telegram channels and said two of its members had detonated their explosive belts in the crowd that had gathered at the cemetery.

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