ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Islamic State (ISIS) on Thursday claimed responsibility for the twin suicide attacks in the Iranian city of Kerman that killed over 80 people.
As scores of people gathered to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the killing of IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani at his birthplace of Kerman on Wednesday, two explosions rocked the crowd. Consequentially, that resulted in the death of 84 people and the injury of 284 more, according to the latest toll published by Iranian state media.
While an earlier voice note from the group’s spokesperson declared war on the US and Israeli government for the war in Gaza and for the attacks on “Muslim lands”, ISIS shortly after took responsibility for Kerman’s attacks too.
In a statement released by the group’s telegram channels on Thursday, ISIS took responsibility for the attacks, claiming that the attack was conducted through two of its suicide bombers.
The ISIS attack came at a time of increasing tensions in the region.
With Iran-backed groups targeting US bases across Iraq and Syria, and US and Israeli strikes on militant groups and personnel affiliated with Iran across the region, Iranian officials were quick to point fingers at their foes for the attack.
The US denied any involvement in the attack, US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday, adding that they had “no reason to believe that Israel was involved in this explosion.”
However ISIS was never very fond of Soleimani.
Soleimani’s role in defeating ISIS in Iraq has been previously acknowledged and praised by both Kurdish and Arab politicians.
ISIS controlled swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, declaring a so-called Islamic caliphate across its controlled territories. Despite the group’s territorial defeat in 2017, small remnants of the terror group still conduct hit and run attacks in different regions in the Middle East.
The attack from ISIS came just days after Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, in a joint presser with his Spanish counterpart, reiterated that Iraq is working on ending the presence of all foreign troops in the country.
The global coalition against ISIS led by the US, entered the war against ISIS and provided aerial support and intelligence to Iraqi and Kurdish forces both in Iraq and Syria.
Following the defeat of ISIS, the coalition forces have remained at different locations across the region, providing training and advisory services to the Iraqi and Kurdish military, however following the Israeli war on Gaza and the US support for Israel, bases housing US and foreign troops have become a constant target for attacks by pro-Iran militia.
The Thursday attack on a Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) base east of Baghdad, which was attributed to the US by the PMF and Iraqi government, and a US official confirmed to Reuters their involvement in the attack, perhaps was a shot at their own foot.
A drone targeted the PMF’s 12th brigade base in Baghdad’s Palestine Street on Thursday, killing the deputy head of the force’s Baghdad Belt Operations.
Iraq’s top military spokesperson Yehia Rasool blamed the US-led coalition forces for the attack, claiming that it was “no different from terrorist acts”.
“The Iraqi Armed Forces hold the International Coalition Forces responsible for this unprovoked attack on an Iraqi security body operating in accordance with the powers granted to it by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces,” read the statement from Rasool.
Head of the pro-Iran Fatih Alliance, Hadi al-Ameri, condemned the attack on the PMF base in Baghdad, and called for an “immediate” expulsion of coalition troops from the Iraqi government.
However, with the sudden reappearance of ISIS next door with an attack of such scale, it is unlikely that US forces will be leaving Iraq anytime soon.