Iran's Ministry of Intelligence said on Thursday it identified the mastermind behind the Jan. 3 bombing at a cemetery in Kerman, also announcing the arrest of 35 individuals suspected of involvement in the attacks.
The twin bombings in the southeastern city of Kerman have killed 91 people and injured around 300 others.
Last Thursday, ISIS claimed responsibility for the two explosions, saying two militants detonated explosive belts in the crowd that gathered at a memorial for al-Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike in Baghdad in early 2020.
Eight days following the attack, the IRNA news agency carried a statement by the Intelligence Ministry saying the main suspect who planned the Kerman attack was a Tajik national known by his alias Abdollah Tajiki.
It said Tajiki, along with a woman and child who provided cover, illegally entered the country on December 19 by crossing Iran's southeast border and settled in a rented house on the outskirts of Kerman.
The Ministry said that Tajiki is believed to have also played a crucial role in planning the operation and manufacturing the homemade bombs used in the attack.
He reportedly left two days before the attack, after making the bombs, it added.
The Ministry statement came after Tehran said one of the suicide bombers was a Tajik national, without identifying him.
But in the Thursday statement, the Ministry identified the man as Bazirov Israeli son of Amanullah, 24, and a citizen of Tajikistan.
It said Bazirov underwent training in Afghanistan and was dispatched to Iran from the Turkish borders to carry out the attack.
The Ministry added that authorities will later unravel information on the identify the second suicide-bomber, adding that it arrested suspects in several Iranian provinces.
Last Sunday, Kerman Public Prosecutor Mehdi Bakhshi said security services have arrested 32 people in connection with the two suicide attacks in the southern city of Kerman, and they services found 16 bombs in the city before the fourth anniversary of Soleimani’s killing.
He said the power of these bombs exceeds the power of the explosive belts worn by the suicide bombers.
Bakhshi’s statements came after the head of the military court in Kerman, Ali Tavakoli, said more than 64 bombs were found across the country that were scheduled to explode at Qassem Soleimani’s ceremony.
Statements by the Iranian officials about the discovery of dozens of bombs have triggered widespread criticism of the IRGC's failure to cancel Qassem Soleimani's memorial amid security threats.
