Middle East, Europe

Germany condemns today’s explosions in Iran as ‘act of terror’

Berlin also requests Germans leave Lebanon because ‘an escalation at the Israel-Lebanon border cannot be ruled out’

Ahmet Gençtürk  | 04.01.2024 - Update : 04.01.2024
Germany condemns today’s explosions in Iran as ‘act of terror’

ATHENS

Germany condemned explosions Wednesday in Iran as an “act of terror.” 

“We are deeply saddened by the high death toll in today's explosions in Kerman, many children among them. We condemn this act of terror,” the Foreign Ministry wrote X. “The people of Iran deserve a future in peace and security.”

The explosions took place on a route leading to the cemetery where Qassem Soleimani, the former head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, is buried.

At least 103 people were killed, according to Sayyed Mohammad Saberi, head of the city's Emergency Organization.

Soleimani was killed Jan 3, 2020, in a US drone strike outside the Baghdad airport in Iraq.

In a separate statement, the ministry requested that Germans leave Lebanon as quickly as possible, as “an escalation at the Israel-Lebanon border cannot be ruled out.”

Late Tuesday, an Israeli drone assassinated Hamas’ deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri in the Lebanese capital of Beirut along with two commanders of its military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades.

Arouri was the most senior Hamas leader to have been killed by Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on Oct. 7.


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