Iran Arrests 35 Individuals over Kerman Terrorist Attack

By Staff, Agencies

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry announced that 35 individuals have been arrested over involvement in the recent terrorist bombings in the southeastern city of Kerman.

The ministry, in its second statement on the incident on Thursday, said its forces are proceeding with a process to identify the perpetrators and masterminds of the twin suicide bombings as well as the people related to Takfiri terrorists inside and outside the country.

“So far, 35 people have been detained in the provinces of Kerman, Sistan and Baluchestan, Khorasan Razavi, Esfahan, Tehran and West Azarbaijan,” it explained.

It added that a number of the criminals involved in the tragedy have been also identified abroad and serious efforts are underway to pursue them.

“It is the ministry’s duty and it reserves the right to prosecute and bring to justice the criminals and all the agents outside the country who played a role in the massacring of dozens of innocent people in the terrorist blasts,” said the statement.

It also emphasized that the ministry would not rest until the full realization of its goals.

Iran added the culprits behind the deadly terrorist bomb attacks in the city of Kerman use terrorism as a tool to achieve their own objectives.

According to the results obtained so far, the mastermind and main supporter of the criminal operation in question was a Tajik person, under the alias Abdullah Tajiki.

“He illegally entered the country through southeastern borders, along with a woman and a child, on December 19 and was transferred to Kerman,” it said.

It also noted that in addition to directing the operation, Tajiki was an expert in making handmade bombs. After combining various explosive and electric detonators and producing the bombs, he left the country two days before the tragic incident.

Iran's Intelligence Ministry identified the second Kerman terrorist suspect as a 24-year-old “Israeli” with Tajik citizenship, named Bazirov, and said he joined the Wahhabi Daesh [Arabic Acronym for “ISIS” / “ISIL”] after becoming acquainted with the terrorist group via Telegram social platform.

The ministry added that important clues have been found about the identity of the second suspect which would be revealed after completion of information.