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Scores of Iranian pilgrims were killed on Thursday by a car bomb in Iraq.
Most of the 100 victims were Iranian nationals. They died when an oil tanker, loaded with 500 litres of ammonium nitrate, was detonated at a gas station near al-Hilla, about 120 km (75 miles) southeast of Baghdad and about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the holy city of Karbala.
Reports say most of the victims were Iranian nationals, returning from the annual Arbaeen ceremony in Karbala.
The Islamic State, which is under pressure from an Iraqi-Kurdish offensive on its central position, Iraq’s second city Mosul, claimed the attack.
Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said the Foreign Ministry and the Iranian Embassy in Iraq are “investigating the issue with seriousness”: “These brutal and inhumane acts will not affect the Iraqi government and nation’s determination and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s support for the oppressed Iraqi people in the unrelenting fight against terrorism.”
Iraq’s President Fuad Masum echoed the Iranians, saying terrorists will be brought to justice.
Shootings and bombings have continued amid the campaign to defeat ISIS, which took much of Iraq in 2014 but has been pushed back into its base of Mosul. The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq said 1,120 Iraqis were killed and 1,005 wounded in acts of violence in October.
Tehran Friday Prayer: Trump Victory is “Sign of Wrath of God”
The Tehran Friday Prayer leader, Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, has declared that Donald Trump’s victory in the US Presidential election is a “sign of the wrath of God”.
Sedighi asserted, “The bones of liberal democracy are collapsing.”
The regime offered disparate reactions in its initial response to Trump’s surprising win. However, Sedighi’s line — set by the Supreme Leader’s office — echoes that of head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani’s welcome of the election outcome as the “collapse” of the US.
See Iran Daily, Nov 17: Supreme Leader Dismisses Trump’s Election
Sedighi echoed the Supreme Leader’s warning that the US has reneged on the July 2015 nuclear deal, saying that Iran will respond if Congress extends the 1996 Iran Sanctions Act by 10 years.
