At least 103 people were killed, and 141 were injured, in the two explosions near the tomb of the Revolutionary Guards general Kasem Soleimani in Kerman province, according to new reports from rescue authorities, in what Iranian officials call “terrorist attack”.

Some of the 141 injured are in critical condition.

“The first explosion occurred 700 meters away from the grave of martyr Qassem Suleimani, and the second explosion occurred one kilometer away from him,” reports the IRNA agency.

“Many people were attending the fourth anniversary of the martyrdom of General Soleimani in the city of Kerman when the explosions took place.”

Footage indicates the second explosion occurred about 15 minutes after the first. A delayed second blast is often used by terrorists to target emergency personnel responding to the scene of the first strike and cause more casualties.

People can be heard screaming on state television footage.

Deputy Governor of Kerman, Rahman Jalali, called the attack “terrorist,” without elaborating.

New information indicates that the explosions came from from explosive devices in two different locations near the cemeterywhich were triggered by remote control.

Initial reports initially said that at least 20 people were killed in the explosions and the chaos that followed, but from the first minutes of the blasts the death toll was believed to be much higher.

According to alarabiya the explosions occurred near the cemetery where Iran’s top military commander is buried.

State broadcaster Irib initially reported that another 60 people were injured.

Al Mayadeen news agency posted on social media that “eyewitnesses spoke of the possibility that explosions were caused by gas cylindersbut official sources have yet to confirm this.”

Tasnim news agency reported that a large number of ambulances have arrived at the scene of the incident. State television showed Red Crescent rescue workers tending to injured people at the ceremony.

“Our rapid response teams are evacuating the injured… But there are crowds blocking roads,” Reza Fallah, head of the Red Crescent in Kerman province, told state television.

A large number of people had gathered in the area on the occasion Soleimani’s 4th death anniversary.

Soleimani, who for more than two decades led the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); killed in a US airstrike in Iraq in January 2020.

Who was Qassem Soleimani?

Qassem Soleimani was killed in January 2020, aged 62, during a US drone strike in Iraq. Key figure of the Iranian regimewas also one of the most popular public figures in the country.

After serving in the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), Soleimani quickly rose through the ranks to become head of the Islamic Republic’s Islamic Republic’s foreign affairs.

The president of Turkey Recep Erdogan offered his condolences to the “fraternal and friendly” Iranian people over the deadly blasts near Qasem Soleimani’s tomb in his hometown of Kerman.