Pope Francis expressed his closeness with the Iranian people after a terror attack devastated the country last week.
On January 3, two bomb blasts occurred during a commemorative ceremony marking the assassination of Qasem Soleimanil, an Iranian general killed on that day in 2020.
“I express my closeness to the Iranian people, in particular the relatives of the many victims of the terrorist attack that occurred in Kerman, the many who were injured, and all those who were affected by this great suffering,” said the Holy Father in his Angelus message on the Feast of the Epiphany.
According to state-run news agency IRNA, the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack through a Telegram post that left 284 people injured and 84 dead.
Two brothers acted as suicide bombers by detonating their explosive vests while gathering with Shiite mourners near Soleimanil’s grave in Kerman.
Tensions in the region are currently rising since the death of the deputy leader of Hamas, an Iranian-backed Palestinian group, in an apparent Israeli drone strike in Lebanon.
This is considered the deadliest attack in Iran since the 1979 revolution.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, promised to deliver a “harsh response” to this act of terror.
"Cruel criminals must know that they will be strongly dealt with from now on, and undoubtedly there will be a harsh response," Khamenei said.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis continues to urge the world to choose peace over violence.
“So many victims of war, so many deaths, so much destruction... Let us pray for peace,” he said.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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