Leader urges manhunt for Kerman masterminds
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the Islamic Republic insists on finding the masterminds of the Kerman terrorist attacks.
The Leader noted that the Islamic Republic does not insist on accusing others for the Wednesday incident but insists on finding and suppressing the real and behind-the-scene perpetrators of the attacks which killed more than 90 people.
Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks during a meeting with thousands of people from Qom on Tuesday, marking the anniversary of the 1978 popular uprising in the holy city against the former US-backed Pahlavi regime.
He expressed hope that the authorities would find the masterminds involved in the attack and punish them.
The bombings, which were claimed by the Daesh terrorist group, were carried out near the burial site of Iran’s late anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani during a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of his killing. The blasts left 91 people, including 14 Afghans, dead and 286 others wounded.
Soleimani who was the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, was assassinated in a US strike near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.
According to authorities in the southeastern province of Kerman, all individuals suspected to be involved in the attack have been arrested so far.
The leader also pointed to the importance of the active presence of people in the country’s events, saying that the United States and Israel have been pursuing the policy of decreasing the participation of Iranians in the country’s important occasions.
He described the enemy’s effort in downplaying the presence of people in the events, such as the Arba’een march and the anniversary of the assassination of Iranian anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani, as one of its tricks to decrease the people’s participation in such occasions.
Ayatollah Khamenei said that the reason for their enmity is that they have found that the main factor behind Iran’s progress, its emergence as an important power in the region, and the creation of the resistance forces across the region, and foiling all of their plots, including coups and imposed wars against Iran, is the presence of Iranian people in the country’s events.
He also referred to the foreign media’s efforts to discourage people, especially the youth, from having hope in the future of the country, as other plots to decrease the people’s participation on such occasions.
Ayatollah Khamenei underlined that the best way to counter such plots is the active presence of people in the country’s political and economic issues, elections and even the security issues.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution also touched upon on the ongoing Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip, saying that the resistance of Palestinian people in the Palestinian territory has frustrated the United States and Israel.
He said that a limited number of people in a limited area of land called the Gaza Strip managed to frustrate the United States and its vassal, Israel.
The crimes that Israel is committing against the Palestinians will be recorded in history even after the regime is wiped off the face of the earth, he asserted.
Additionally, he noted, it will not be forgotten that the patience of the Palestinian people and their resilience forced the regime to retreat.