Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Friday stood in solidarity with mourners in Kerman during the funerals of 89 individuals who lost their lives in twin explosions attributed to Daesh, as reported by state media.
Suicide bombings struck crowds in the southern city, where many had gathered on Wednesday to commemorate slain Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general Qasem Soleimani on the fourth anniversary of his death in a U.S. drone strike.
The attack killed 89 people, state TV said, raising an earlier toll following the deaths of several of the wounded.
The victims include multiple women and children and at least a dozen Afghan nationals, it said.
Despite the claim of responsibility by Daesh, Iranian officials have continued to suggest Israeli and U.S. involvement.
Daesh "has disappeared nowadays," said Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami during the funeral ceremony, arguing the group "only acts as mercenaries" for U.S. and Israeli interests.
The U.S. rejected any suggestion that it or its ally Israel were behind the bombings, while Tehran's arch-foe Israel did not comment.
Iran's Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told state TV that "some individuals involved in the attack have been arrested," without elaborating.
Salami vowed that Iran "will find you wherever you are," referring to any Daesh members behind the bombing plot.
And Raisi said revenge for the killings will come at "the time and place will be determined by our forces."
The president, in his remarks, also reiterated his support for the Palestinian group Hamas.
"We know that the 'Al-Aqsa Flood' operation will bring about the end of the Zionist regime," he said, using Hamas' name for the conflict, now nearing its fourth month.
Friday's funeral took place at the Emam Ali mosque in Kerman, where crowds gathered in front of dozens of coffins wrapped in the Iranian flag, according to state media.
The mourners waved the national flag as well as the yellow flag of Tehran's ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, along with portraits of Soleimani.
President Raisi, who arrived in Kerman to attend the funerals, also visited Soleimani's grave, state TV said.
Iranian authorities called for mass rallies after the funerals and Friday prayers to protest the bombings.
In a statement published Thursday on Telegram, Daesh said two of its members "activated their explosives vests" at the gathering.
Iranian investigators had already confirmed that the first blast was at least the work of a "suicide bomber." They believed the trigger for the second was "very probably another suicide bomber," official news agency IRNA had reported earlier, citing an "informed source."
A staunch enemy of the group, Soleimani headed the Quds Force, the Revolutionary Guard's foreign operations arm, overseeing military operations across the Middle East.
