Kerman

Iran marked Sunday the 45th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution amid tensions gripping the wider Middle East over Israel's continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Thousands of Iranians marched through major streets and squares decorated with flags, balloons and banners with revolutionary and religious slogans.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was set to hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday to discuss the widening conflict in Gaza and energy cooperation between the two neighbors.

Raisi had twice postponed his visit, initially set for November, over scheduling issues and attacks in Iran's southeastern city of Kerman.

Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at positions occupied by "terrorist groups" in Syria and Iraq on late Monday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement.

State media reported that IRGC destroyed a "spy headquarters" and a "gathering of anti-Iran terrorist groups" in Syria with ballistic missiles.

BELGRADE - In a telephone conversation with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic extended his condolences over the terror attack in the Iranian city of Kerman in which two blasts killed more than a hundred people.

"Serbia condemns all forms of terrorism," Vucic said during the conversation.

Iran blamed Israel and the United States on Wednesday for twin bomb blasts that killed at least 95 people in the country's south, ripping through a crowd commemorating Revolutionary Guards general Qasem Soleimani four years after his death in a U.S. strike.

The death toll resulting from the dual explosions in the vicinity of the grave of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani has climbed to 103, coinciding with the somber anniversary of his assassination. The tragic incidents unfolded at a critical moment, marking four years since the general's demise, a figure revered for his strategic role in Iran's military operations across the Middle East.

Local authorities announced that it was a terrorist attack.
A large number of ambulances arrived at the scene of the accident and the injured were taken to local hospitals. The New York Times reports that 141 people were injured. All were transferred to hospitals.

At least 103 people were killed in Iran Wednesday as two bombs in quick succession struck a crowd commemorating slain general Qasem Soleimani on the anniversary of his killing, state media reported.