TEHRAN-Following the Wednesday terrorist attack in the southeastern Kerman Province, where over 100 people lost their lives, several art and cultural organizations as well as officials and artists condemned the attacks and extended their condolences to the Iranian people.

Two terrorist blasts near the burial site of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in the city of Kerman during a ceremony marking his fourth martyrdom anniversary left 103 people dead and 265 more injured.

“The American and Israeli enemies of Islam once again did not tolerate the unity among Iranian people and created a disaster by bombing the path to General Soleimani’s resting place in Kerman and made many families grieve the loss of their beloved ones,” ILNA quoted Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance as saying.

Condemning the great crime, Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili said, “I offer my condolences to our beloved leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and the families of the victims”.

“Undoubtedly, history will never forget this horrible crime, and future generations will judge the terrorist actions of the enemies of Islam, especially the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he added.

Moreover, in separate messages, the House of Cinema, Farabi Cinema Foundation, Documentary and Experimental Film Center, Roudaki Artistic Cultural Foundation, Iranian Artists Forum, Iran Music House, and Iran Book and Literature House denounced the attack, expressed sympathy with the Iranian nation, conveyed their condolences to the bereaved families, and requested the authorities to seek for revenge against those who committed this heinous and barbaric crime.

A wide range of Iranian artists from different fields of cinema, theater, music, and visual arts took to Instagram to react to the terror incident, sympathizing with the nation. Among the large number of artists, there were well-known figures including filmmakers Manijeh Hekmat, Mohammad-Mehdi Asgarpour, Saeid Roustai, and Reza Mirkarimi, actors Parviz Parastui, Amir Aqayi, Hamed Behdad, Reza Kianian, Mohammadreza Golzar, Vishka Asayesh, and Houtan Shakiba among others.

In addition, Homayoun Shajarian, Mohsen Chavoshi, Reza Sadeghi, Hesamoddin Seraj, Mohammad Esfahani, Mohammad Motamedi, Salar Aghili, Rouzbeh Bemani, Ali Zand Vakili, Behnam Bani, Mohsen Ebrahimzadeh, Mohammad Alizadeh, Amir Azimi, Hamed Homayoun, Hamid Askari, Reza Yazdani, and Farzad Farzin were among the singers who also shared condolence messages to their Instagram stories. 

Grieving the deadly blasts, singers who had planned to hold concerts or release a new piece at the weekend canceled their programs. On their Instagram stories, Alireza Ghorbani, Vahid Taj, Keivan Saket, Garsha Rezari, and Majid Razavi expressed their heartfelt condolences and postponed their plans to another time.

A number of painters, cartoonists, and graphic designers have reacted to the shocking incident by creating artworks on the issue.

On Thursday, the ISIS terrorist group claimed responsibility for the two explosions in Iran. In a statement posted on its affiliate Telegram channels, the militant Sunni Muslim group said two ISIS members had detonated explosive belts in the crowd that had gathered at the cemetery in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman on Wednesday. 

The memorial was marking the fourth anniversary of the death of General Soleimani, who was assassinated in Iraq in 2020 by a U.S. drone. Tehran has vowed revenge for the bloodiest such attack since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Photo: Works by illustrator Jamal Rahmati posted on his Instagram page on January 4, 2024.

SS/SAB