Health Minister Revises Death Toll In Kerman Blast To 95, Clarifies Duplicate Entries
Iran’s Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has updated the death toll from the Kerman explosion to 95, attributing the initial discrepancy to the inadvertent double registration of some names. The total injured stands at 211.Twenty-seven people are in critical condition.
A Houthi fighter stands on the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023.
A joint statement by the US, UK, Germany, Japan, Bahrain and several other countries warned Iran-backed Houthis against attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
“Let our message now be clear: we call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews,” the statement said.
Immediately after the White House issued the joint statement, the US Central Command posted the following excerpt on X. “The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.”
After Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for a trade blockade with Israel in November, Tehran's proxy allies, the Houthi movement in Yemen, started launching missiles and drones at vessels in international waters around the Red Sea.
The attacks escalated in recent weeks, leading 44 nations to form a naval coalition to ensure maritime security in the region.
However, the United States has chosen not to retaliate on Yemeni soil while defending against the Houthi attacks by intercepting incoming projectiles and deterring boats that pose threats to ships.
Wednesday’s joint statement appears to be a warning of impending retaliation if the attacks continue.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "strongly condemned" the bombing of the ceremony in Iran to honor former Iranian top commander Qassem Soleimani.
"The Secretary-General strongly condemns the attack today on a memorial ceremony in Kerman City in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which reportedly killed more than 100 people and injured many more," said Florencia Soto Nino, associate spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
"The Secretary-General calls for those responsible to be held accountable," added Soto Nino.
According to reports from the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), government officials stepped in to ban the gathering.
Arak is one of eight major Iranian cities grappling with severe air pollution. Despite this, the authorities in the central province recently approved the re-use of mazut in the Shazand power plant, sparking concerns among the populace.
In response to the decision, several professors from Arak University issued a call to cease the use of the highly polluting fuel. In a statement, they emphasized that the burning of mazut in the Shazand power plant "poses a serious threat to the health of over a million residents of Arak and Shazand."
It was the second protest against air quality in events days. Last Tuesday, hundreds of residents in Ardakan, Yazd province, took to the streets to express their discontent with the air quality in their city.
The longstanding practice of using mazut in industries and power plants during the second half of each year, attributed to a gas shortage, has raised environmental and health concerns among the Iranian populace.
Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri during a reconciliation deal signing ceremony in Cairo, Egypt, October 12, 2017
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a condemnation regarding the killing of Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas official.
Al-Arouri, serving as Hamas's deputy leader abroad, was targeted in an alleged Israeli strike in Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut on Tuesday, part of the Jewish state's mission to destroy the UK designated terror group after the October 7 invasion.
The IRGC's statement claimed that attempts to “rectify the defeat on [October 7] through acts of assassination and crime are futile. The Zionist regime, currently facing challenges, is deemed incapable of distorting the resistance's strategic calculations through such actions,” disregarding the fact that since the attacks, Gaza has been devastated by Israel's relentless retaliation and dozens of its top commanders assassinated.
Naser Kanaani, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, also condemned Israel's "despicable" actions, labeling them as killings that will serve to further motivate the region to resist Israel. Despite the condemnation, Iranian government websites provided minimal coverage of the event on Wednesday as the regime marked the fourth anniversary of the death of former IRGC Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani, killed in a US drone strike on January 3, 2020.
Al-Arouri, a founding member of Hamas's military wing, had overseen the group's operations in the West Bank and spent nearly 18 years in Israeli prisons since the early 1990s. Residing in Lebanon since 2018, he was known for his close ties to both Hezbollah and Iran. His West Bank home was also flattened in the wake of the October 7 attacks.
Since the October 7 invasion led by Iran-backed Hamas into Israel, resulting in the loss of 1,200 lives, predominantly civilians, and the abduction of over 240 more, Iran's proxies have been activated across the region.
Attacks on both Israel and US facilities across the region have intensified, Iranian proxies in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria claiming to stand in support of Hamas, culminating in the worst crisis witnessed in recent years.
Iran's Yemeni proxy, the Houthis, have implemented a blockade of the Red Sea and surrounding area, leading to a more than 20-nation coalition being formed by the US to counter the threat to global trade routes.
