Iran-Backed Iraqi Militias, Yemen's Ansar Allah Movement Condemn Kerman, Iran Bombing At Memorial For Qasem Soleimani; Blame Israel, U.S., Gulf Countries; Promise Revenge

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On January 3, 2024, over 100 people were killed and over 200 wounded in two explosions at a memorial for Qasem Soleimani, slain commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, near his grave in the city of Kerman, in Iran's Kerman province.[1] The memorial was held on the fourth anniversary of Soleimani's death in a 2020 American airstrike near the Baghdad International airport. No group has yet claimed the attack. Several Iran-backed militant groups in Iraq and Yemen issued statements condemning the bombing. This report reviews those statements.

Iraq's Al-Nujaba Movement: U.S., Israel Are Behind The Attack, Victims' Blood Will Be Avenged

A January 3 statement[2] by the Iran-backed Iraqi Shi'ite Al-Nujaba Movement militia sends condolences to the Iranian people, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and the families of the "martyrs," and accuses the U.S. and Israel of being behind the "terrorists" who perpetrated the attack. Stressing that "these crimes" will only increase the steadfastness and determination of the "resistance axis," the statement asserts that they prove that the U.S. is behind "all evil in the world." It adds that the "innocent blood" shed will not be in vain, as there are those "committed to Allah" to take revenge on the enemy for its "heinous crimes against the people."

Framing the attack as an additional U.S. "terror crime" in the region aimed at fulfilling its "colonial goals and endeavors," the statement commends Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Palestine and "all countries of resistance" for combatting such acts on behalf of "all the countries in the region," in contrast to "those who sold their religion and conscience, and normalized [relations] with the devil," Israel.

Iraq's Hizbullah Brigades: Israel, U.S., Gulf Countries Perpetrated The Attack In Retaliation For Their Defeat In Gaza

A statement[3] by Iraq's Iran-backed Hizbullah Brigades accuses the "Zionist-Crusader enemy and the Gulf Arabs behind it" of perpetrating the attack in retaliation for its "inability" to defeat Gaza and the "resistance axis that humiliated it" on the ground. It further compares the attack to massacres carried out by "Saudi Wahhabi suicide bombers" in the past against Shi'ite civilians in Iraqi markets and mosques.

A post[4] on a Telegram channel affiliated with the Iran-backed Iraqi Qassem Al-Jabbarin militia similarly accuses "Zionist and American hands that extend through mercenaries" of committing the attack in an attempt to turn their "terrible defeat" into a victory, adding that they will not succeed.

Iraqi Militia Leader Al-Khazali: Israel Seeks To Provoke 'Comprehensive War' In The Region, International Community Must Unite Against 'U.S.-Backed Zionist Terrorism'

A post[5] on X by Qais Al-Khazali, leader of the Iran-backed Iraqi Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haqq militia, asserts that the goal of the "Zionist entity" [Israel] in all the "assassinations, shellings, and attacks" against countries and commanders of the "Islamic resistance axis" is to drag the region into a "comprehensive war," to cover up its "crimes and barbarity" against children, women, and the elderly in Gaza. It calls on the international community to unite in order to "drain the sources of the U.S.-backed Zionist terrorism" that threatens the security and stability of the "free nations."

Yemen's Ansar Allah Movement: Attack Is Part Of U.S., Israeli Plots To Destabilize Iran

A post[6] on the official Telegram channel of Muhammad Abdulsalam, spokesman of Yemen's Iran-backed Ansar Allah Movement (the Houthis), asserts that this "crime" is a continuation of all the crimes that have sought to harm Iran's role in confronting the "global arrogance," adopting the cause of the "central [Islamic] nation," and supporting "resistance forces" in Palestine and Lebanon. It adds that Iran is stronger than all the "plots," and that attempts by the U.S. and Israel to destabilize its security will fail.