Well.

This is suspicious.

Business Standard:

The Iranian city of Kerman witnessed a devastating attack near Qasem Soleimani’s burial site on Wednesday, resulting in a death toll of 103 and 188 injuries, according to a report by CNN. No group has claimed responsibility yet, while Iranian President Raisi blames Israel, warning of severe consequences. Here is what is known about the situation so far.

Two bombs exploded minutes apart on Wednesday in what appears to be the deadliest militant attack to target Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. The gathering marked the fourth anniversary of the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, in a US drone strike in Iraq in January 2020. The explosions occurred near his gravesite as long lines of people gathered for the event.

The first explosion was 700 metres away from Soleimani’s grave, and the second was a kilometre (0.6 miles) away as pilgrims visited the site, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. However, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi accused Israel of being behind them. President Raisi warned that they would pay a “heavy price.”

“I warn the Zionist regime; do not doubt that you will pay a heavy price for this crime and the crimes you have committed,” Raisi said in a televised speech from Tehran, according to CNN.

The Iranian President, following the blasts, has issued a dire warning, stating that Israel will face “regrettable and severe” consequences.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated this sentiment in a post on X (formerly Twitter), that Iran will have a “harsh response” to the attack.

He wrote, “They should know that the bright soldiers of the path of Soleimani will not tolerate their wickedness and crimes.”

Maybe it’s just a coincidence though?

For years, my catchphrase has been “now it’s time to die, bitch!”

Iran is considering adopting this catchphrase, though I’ve threatened to sue them over it.

CNN:

Two Iranians were sentenced to death by a court for “corruption on earth,” Iran’s state news agency IRNA said Monday.

One of them, Zahra Sedighi-Hamadani, was described by Amnesty International earlier this year as a gender nonconforming person and LGBTI activist who was detained by authorities “due to her real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as her social media posts and statements in defense of LGBTI rights.”

Elham Chobdar ​was also charged and convicted as part of the same case and sentenced to death, Iranian state media reported.

I’m 99% sure this isn’t a tranny. You can’t be 100% sure about anyone these days.

The two were accused of “trafficking young women” in ​Iran’s West Azerbaijan province ​an​d​ unnamed other parts of the country, according to the report from IRNA.

Amnesty said Tuesday it was “outraged” by the sentences and called on Iran’s authorities to immediately “quash the convictions and death sentences” and release Sedighi-Hamadani and Chobdar, the statement said. The sentences are being appealed in Iran’s Supreme Court, it added.

Amnesty said in January that Sedighi-Hamadani, who also uses the name Sareh, was first ​detained in October 2021 in ​Erbil, Iraq, in connection to ​an appearance she made in a BBC documentary​, speaking about abuses of the LGBTQ community in the ​region.

After ​her release in Iraq, Sedighi-Hamadani attempted to cross into Turkey from Iran to seek asylum, Amnesty said, but in November, the Intelligence Organization of the Revolutionary Guards said that a “leader” of a human trafficking network “involved in smuggling Iranian girls and women” to neighboring countries and directing them to homosexual groups under “protection of [foreign] intelligence agencies” had been caught.

Amnesty believes the statement by the Revolutionary Guards ​referred to Sedighi-Hamadani and called the allegations “spurious and baseless.”

Before allegedly attempting to cross into Turkey, Sedighi-Hamadani said she was “journeying toward freedom” in a video released by the Iranian Lesbian and Transgender Network, ​also known as 6Rang​, in December of 2021 and referenced by Amnesty ​the following month.

“If I make it, I will continue to look after LGBT people. I will be standing behind them and raising my voice.If I don’t make it, I will have given my life for this cause,” she said in the video. ​

In a letter sent to ​the Chief Justice of Iran, Gholam​-Hossein Mohseni​-Ejei, Amnesty said Sedighi-Hamadani was accused in January by the prosecutor in Urumieh of “spreading corruption on earth” including through “promoting homosexuality,” “communication with anti-Islamic Republic media channels​,” and “promoting Christianity.”

…

“Contrary to reports published on social media, the area of charges against these individuals is related to the trafficking of women and young girls with the hope of education and promise of employment to a regional country and they were also abused ​and that led to the suicide of a number of these girls,” IRNA said​, without providing details.

It’s funny.