Terrorist bombings rooted in Zionist grudge against Gen. Soleimani: Raeisi

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi says the cause of the terrorist bombings in Kerman can be traced back to the grudge that Zionists hold against top anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani as he jeopardized the plans to establish another Israel in the region by creating and backing Daesh terrorist group. 

He made the remarks on Friday while addressing a funeral ceremony of the victims of two Wednesday terrorist blasts, claimed by Daesh, which killed at least 89 people and wounded scores at a memorial for Gen. Qassem Soleimani in the southeastern city of Kerman, four years after his assassination by the United States. 

Noting that the Israeli regime was established with the purported aim of defending Jews and by misusing the name of Jews, Raeisi said “The enemy wanted the puppet group of Daesh to rule in Iraq and Syria under the name of Islamic Caliphate.”

He attributed the security of West Asia to Gen. Soleimani, saying “Qassem Soleimani and the regional forces thwarted the US plan to create another Israel in the region ... this is why the Zionist regime is holding grudge against the name, path, and pilgrims of Haj Qassem."

Raeisi also noted that Qassem Soleimani strengthened the resistance in the region and left Israel surrounded by powerful forces that could thwart its expansionist plans. 

The US role in the establishment of Daesh terrorist group has also been highlighted by some American politicians, both Democratic and Republican. 

Iran says US 'godfather of Daesh' after Kennedy nephew's comments

Tehran says the United States is the "godfather" of the Daesh terrorist group as admitted by an American politician.

Back in August 2016, Donald Trump, then-Republican presidential nominee, also stated that Daesh was honoring then-US president Barack Obama as "He’s the founder of ISIS. He's the founder! He founded ISIS."

"I would say the co-founder would be ‘Crooked’ Hillary Clinton," he hastened to add, criticizing the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, which according to him, left behind a void for Daesh terrorists to fill.

Also back in March 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted that the US created Daesh, blaming Washington for crimes perpetrated by the terrorist group and influx of millions of refugees to Europe. “The police are corrupt. We created ISIS (Daesh). We drove two million refugees up into Europe and destabilized democracy for a generation in Europe. They called it Brexit,” he said then. 

The US invaded Iraq in 2003 under the false pretext that the country possesses Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). The invasion marked the start of the American war machine on Iraq and the wider West Asia region. A few years later, it also invaded Syria with the excuse of fighting Daesh terrorists.

Daesh – also referred to as ISIS -- began a brutal terror campaign in 2014, overrunning vast swathes of Iraq in lightning attacks.

Iraq declared victory over the terrorist group in December 2017 following a three-year counter-terrorism military campaign in which the PMU (known in Arabic as Hashd al-Sha’abi) – assisted by Iranian military advisers -- played a major role.

Still, Daesh’s remnants keep staging sporadic attacks across Iraq and Syria while they have been increasingly active in Afghanistan in the past years, especially since the US's irresponsible withdrawal of forces from the war-torn country.

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

A funeral procession was held in Kerman for the victims of the Wednesday terrorist attack.

Iran to respond at appropriate time, place

Elsewhere, Raeisi warned that Iran’s armed forces will retaliate for the recent terrorist attacks in the city of Kerman at the appropriate time and place.

“I assure the people that the initiative is in the hands of our forces and that the time and the place will be determined by our forces,” he said. 

“The enemy has seen and experienced the power of the Islamic Republic many times and I assure [you] that the enemy will see the power of the Islamic Republic concerning the latest cases.”

'Desperate' Israel Killing innocent children

Referring to Israel’s aggression on Gaza that began more than three months ago, the Iranian president said that Israel has failed to defeat the Palestinian resistance despite its limited military capacities, adding that the Tel Aviv regime is “desperate” and that’s why it is “killing innocent children.”

“Palestine is the real winner and the Zionist regime has been defeated in the field,” the Iranian president said.

Raeisi also stressed that it is due to the efforts of Qassem Soleimani that anti-Israel operations are currently conducted by the axis of resistance.

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“Although Hezbollah, Hamas, and the resistance front must be praised, the role played by Haj Qassem in these achievements has been very huge.”

“The end of [Operation] al-Aqsa Storm is the end of the Zionist regime.”

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 22,438 Palestinians and injured more than 57,614 others.

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