TEHRAN, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed on Wednesday that a "tough response" will be given to those who perpetrated and ordered the deadly "act of terror" in the southeastern city of Kerman.
He made the remarks in a message published on his website, extending condolences over the deaths of at least 103 people, including three police officers, in two "terrorist blasts" earlier in the day that also injured 211 others near the burial site of the assassinated senior Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.
Khamenei stressed that those who killed the innocent people by perpetrating the "act of terror" and those who masterminded and ordered it "will be the definite target of just punishment from now on."
"They should know that they will receive a tough response by creating this disaster," he added.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday also condemned the "criminal act of terror" in a condolence message, vowing that those behind the deadly "terrorist" incident "will soon be punished for their cowardly and heinous move," according to a statement published on the website of his office.
Raisi highlighted the necessity to identify those who had orchestrated and ordered the "inhumane move," calling on all provincial officials to take the necessary measures to alleviate the pains of those harmed in the incident, treat the injured and restore order and calm to the city.
The blasts occurred as many people had gathered at the cemetery in Kerman to mark the fourth anniversary of Soleimani's death in a U.S. drone strike.
The first blast was about 700 meters from Soleimani's tomb and the second was a kilometer away, said the official news agency IRNA.
Rahman Jalali, the deputy governor of Kerman province for political and security affairs, said the explosions were carried out by "terrorists," the IRNA reported.
Babak Yektaparast, a spokesman for Iran's National Medical Emergency Organization, told IRINN that some of the injured were in critical condition and the death toll could rise.
The IRINN said the cause of the blasts was still under investigation and that rescue teams were at the scene. It added that most of the injured people were caused by overcrowding and panicking.
The Iranian government has declared Thursday a day of national mourning.
Soleimani, one of the most powerful military commanders in Iran, was killed on Jan. 3, 2020, near Baghdad's international airport in a drone strike ordered by then-U.S. President Donald Trump. ■
