Iran: At least 103 killed in blasts at ceremony for slain general Qassim Soleimani

Explosions at an event honouring a prominent Iranian general slain in a US airstrike in 2020 have killed at least 103 people and wounded more than 200 others, state-run media in Iran reported on Wednesday.

A senior official called the blasts a “terroristic" attack, without elaborating on who could be behind them amid wider tensions in the Middle East over Israel's ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

No group immediately claimed responsibility.

Iranian state television quoted Babak Yektaparast, a spokesman for the country’s emergency services, for the casualty figure.

The blasts struck an event marking the fourth anniversary of the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force, who died in a US drone strike in Iraq in January 2020. 

The explosions occurred near his gravesite in Kerman, about 820 kilometres southeast of the capital, Tehran.

Authorities said some people were injured while fleeing afterward. Footage suggested that the second blast occurred some 15 minutes after the first. A delayed second explosion is often used by militants to target emergency personnel responding to the scene and inflict more casualties.

People could be heard screaming in state TV footage.

Kerman’s deputy governor, Rahman Jalali, called the attack “terroristic,” without elaborating. Iran has multiple foes who could be behind the assault, including exile groups, militant organisations and state actors. Iran has supported Hamas as well as the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Soleimani was the architect of Iran’s regional military activities and is hailed as a national icon among supporters of Iran’s theocracy. He also helped secure Syrian President Bashar Assad's