• Ministry said it had identified one of the two suicide bombers as a national of Tajikistan

DUBAI: Iranian authorities have arrested 35 people in relation to the Jan.3 attacks in the southeastern city of Kerman, the Intelligence Ministry said on Thursday, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The official IRNA news agency carried a statement by the intelligence ministry saying the main suspect who planned the bombing was a Tajik national known by his alias Abdollah Tajiki. According to IRNA, the suspect had entered the country in mid-December by crossing Iran’s southeast border, and left two days before the attack, after making the bombs.

The report also identified one of the bombers by his family name of Bozrov, saying the man was 24 years old and had Tajik and Israeli nationality. It said he also arrived in Iran by crossing the southeastern border after months of training by IS in Afghanistan.

The report further said authorities were still trying to identify the second suicide-bomber. In its claim of responsibility, the Daesh group had identified the two bombers as Omar Al-Mowahed and Seif-Allah Al-Mujahed.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Jan. 4 for the attack that killed nearly 100 people and wounded 284, at a memorial for top commander Qassem Soleimani.

Tehran has vowed revenge for the bloodiest such attack since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Reuters