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Iran Identifies Alleged Mastermind Behind Kerman Bombings

People are running after an explosion in Kerman on January 3 (AP)
People are running after an explosion in Kerman on January 3 (AP)
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Iran Identifies Alleged Mastermind Behind Kerman Bombings

People are running after an explosion in Kerman on January 3 (AP)
People are running after an explosion in Kerman on January 3 (AP)

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.

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World

Netanyahu Coalition Pushes Contentious Oct. 7 Attack Probe, Families Call for Justice

The bereaved families of the 7 October attack hold pictures of their loved ones and shout slogans towards Knesset members during a debate on the bill for a state commission of inquiry into the events of 7 October at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 24 December 2025. (EPA)
The bereaved families of the 7 October attack hold pictures of their loved ones and shout slogans towards Knesset members during a debate on the bill for a state commission of inquiry into the events of 7 October at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 24 December 2025. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Coalition Pushes Contentious Oct. 7 Attack Probe, Families Call for Justice

The bereaved families of the 7 October attack hold pictures of their loved ones and shout slogans towards Knesset members during a debate on the bill for a state commission of inquiry into the events of 7 October at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 24 December 2025. (EPA)
The bereaved families of the 7 October attack hold pictures of their loved ones and shout slogans towards Knesset members during a debate on the bill for a state commission of inquiry into the events of 7 October at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 24 December 2025. (EPA)

Israel's parliament gave the initial go-ahead on Wednesday for a government-empowered inquiry into the surprise October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on southern Israel rather than the expected independent investigation demanded by families of the victims.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted calls to establish a state commission to investigate Israel's failures in the run-up to its deadliest day and has taken no responsibility for the attack that sparked the two-year Gaza war.

His ruling coalition voted on Wednesday to advance a bill which grants parliament members the authority to pick panel members for an inquiry and gives Netanyahu's cabinet the power to set its mandate.

Critics ‌say the move ‌circumvents Israel's 1968 Commissions of Inquiry Law, under which ‌the ⁠president of ‌the Supreme Court appoints an independent panel to investigate major state failures such as those which preceded the 1973 Yom Kippur war.

Survivors and relatives of those hurt in the Hamas attack have launched a campaign against the proposed probe, saying only a state commission can bring those accountable to justice.

"This is a day of disaster for us all," said Eyal Eshel, who lost his daughter when Hamas fighters overran the army base where she served. "Justice ⁠must be done and justice will be done," he said at the Knesset, before the vote.

Surveys have shown ‌wide public support for the establishment of a state ‍commission into the country's biggest security ‍lapse in decades.

Netanyahu said on Monday that a panel appointed in line with the ‍new bill, by elected officials from both the opposition and the coalition, would be independent and win broad public trust.

But Israel's opposition has already said it will not cooperate with what it describes as an attempt by Netanyahu's coalition to cover up the truth rather than reveal it, arguing that the investigation would ultimately be controlled by Netanyahu and his coalition.

The new bill says that if the politicians fail to ⁠agree on the panel, its make-up will be decided by the head of parliament, who is allied with Netanyahu and is a member of his Likud party.

Jon Polin, whose son Hersh Goldberg-Polin was taken hostage and found slain by his captors with five other hostages in a Hamas tunnel in August 2024, said only a trusted commission could restore security and unite a nation still traumatized.

"I support a state commission, not to see anyone punished and not because it will bring back my only son, no. I support a state commission so that nothing like what happened to my son, can ever happen to your son, or your daughter, or your parents," Polin said on Sunday at a news ‌conference with other families.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin was among dozens of hostages taken in the 2023 attack from the site of the Nova music festival.

World

Search Teams in Türkiye Recover Recorders after Plane Crash that Killed Libyan Military Officials

Turkish army soldiers stand guard as rescue teams search for the remains of a private jet carrying Libya's military chief and four others that crashed after taking off from Ankara, killing everyone on board, in Ankara, Turkey, early Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Efekan Akyuz)
Turkish army soldiers stand guard as rescue teams search for the remains of a private jet carrying Libya's military chief and four others that crashed after taking off from Ankara, killing everyone on board, in Ankara, Turkey, early Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Efekan Akyuz)
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Search Teams in Türkiye Recover Recorders after Plane Crash that Killed Libyan Military Officials

Turkish army soldiers stand guard as rescue teams search for the remains of a private jet carrying Libya's military chief and four others that crashed after taking off from Ankara, killing everyone on board, in Ankara, Turkey, early Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Efekan Akyuz)
Turkish army soldiers stand guard as rescue teams search for the remains of a private jet carrying Libya's military chief and four others that crashed after taking off from Ankara, killing everyone on board, in Ankara, Turkey, early Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Efekan Akyuz)

Search teams in Türkiye on Wednesday recovered the cockpit voice and flight data recorders from a jet crash that killed eight people, including western Libya’s military chief, while efforts to retrieve the victims' remains were still underway, Türkiye's interior minister said.

The private jet carrying Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other military officials and three crew members crashed on Tuesday, after taking off from Türkiye's capital, Ankara, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said that the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.

The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told journalists at the site of the crash that wreckage was scattered across an area covering three square kilometers (more than a square mile), complicating recovery efforts. Authorities from the Turkish forensic medicine authority were working to recover and identify the remains, he said.

A 22-person delegation — including five family members — arrived from Libya early on Wednesday to assist in the investigation, he said.

Tripoli-based Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah confirmed the deaths on Tuesday, describing the crash on Facebook as a “tragic accident” and a “great loss” for Libya.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a telephone call with Dbeibah, during which he conveyed his condolences and expressed his sorrow over the deaths, his office said.

The Turkish leader later also offered his condolences during a televised speech, voicing solidarity with Libya.

"An investigation has been launched into this tragic incident that has deeply saddened us, and our ministries will provide information about its progress,” Erdogan said.

Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military, which has split, much like the nation's other institutions.

The four other military officials who died in the crash were Gen. Al-Fitouri Ghraibil, the head of Libya’s ground forces, Brig. Gen. Mahmoud Al-Qatawi, who led the military manufacturing authority, Mohammed Al-Asawi Diab, adviser to the chief of staff, and Mohammed Omar Ahmed Mahjoub, a military photographer with the chief of staff’s office.

The identities of the three crew members weren't immediately released.

Turkish officials said that the Falcon 50-type business jet took off from Ankara’s Esenboga airport at 8:30 p.m. and that contact was lost around 40 minutes later. The plane notified air traffic control of an electrical fault and requested an emergency landing. The aircraft was redirected back to Esenboga, where preparations for its landing began.

The plane, however, disappeared from radar while descending for the emergency landing, the Turkish presidential communications office said.

The Libyan government declared a three-day period of national mourning. Flags would be flown half-staff at all state institutions, according to the government’s announcement on Facebook.

The wreckage was found near the village of Kesikkavak, in Haymana, a district about 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of Ankara.

At the crash site, search and recovery teams intensified their operations on Wednesday after a night of heavy rain and fog, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Gendarmerie police sealed off the area while the Turkish disaster management agency, AFAD, set up a mobile coordination center. Specialized vehicles, such as tracked ambulances, were deployed because of the muddy terrain.

Türkiye has assigned four prosecutors to lead the investigation, and Yerlikaya that said the Turkish search and recovery teams included 408 personnel.

While in Ankara, al-Haddad had met with Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler and other officials.

World

Netanyahu: Israel to Spend $110 billion to Develop Independent Arms Industry in Next Decade

Two Israeli soldiers inside Gaza (AFP)
Two Israeli soldiers inside Gaza (AFP)
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Netanyahu: Israel to Spend $110 billion to Develop Independent Arms Industry in Next Decade

Two Israeli soldiers inside Gaza (AFP)
Two Israeli soldiers inside Gaza (AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ​on Wednesday Israel would spend 350 billion shekels ($110 billion) on developing an independent arms to reduce ‌dependency on other ‌countries, AFP reported.

"We ‌will ⁠continue ​to ‌acquire essential supplies while independently arming ourselves," Netanyahu said at a ceremony for new pilots.

"I ⁠don't know if ‌a country can ‍be ‍completely independent but we ‍will strive ... to ensure our arms are produced as ​much as possible in Israel," he said.

"Our ⁠goal is to build an independent arms industry for the State of Israel and reduce the dependency on any party, including allies."