Interior Minister: Five Terrorist Groups Arrested During Arbaeen Ceremony

Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Interior Minister, announced on Tuesday, December 7, that during this year's Arbaeen ceremony, "20 terrorist and suicide groups were identified and five terrorist groups were arrested." According to the state news agency IRNA, Mr. Rahmani Fazli pointed out that these groups intended to carry out "sabotage actions" which were identified and thwarted through security and intelligence work. Nevertheless, according to the Interior Minister, these groups managed to carry out two operations. He did not provide details about these operations or the casualties and damages resulting from them but described the suicide attack in Hilla, Iraq, as a "bitter incident," adding: "Despite the security efforts planned within Iraq for holding the Arbaeen ceremony, security gaps were exploited, leading to this incident which upset the pilgrims and the people, as well as affected Iranian and Iraqi officials." Iranian officials have repeatedly reported the destruction and arrest of "terrorist" groups but have not provided evidence in this regard. Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli also mentioned that a report on the Arbaeen ceremony was sent to the office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, adding: "He expressed satisfaction with the holding of this event, although we are all affected by the incident that occurred in Hilla, Iraq, and aside from this case, everything went well." On December 5, during a suicide attack by the Islamic State group, ISIS, on a gas station in Hilla, on the road between Karbala and Baghdad, at least 100 people were killed, about 40 of whom were Iranian. Nevertheless, according to IRNA, the Interior Minister stated: "During negotiations with Iraqi officials and considering the good relations that General Soleimani had with Iraqi officials at various levels, we had very good cooperation and are completely satisfied with their actions." He also emphasized the need to increase security for the Arbaeen ceremony in the coming years, stating: "Security concerns for this ceremony must be addressed." Attacks on Iranians in Iraq are not limited to the Hilla suicide operation. For instance, on November 7, following an explosion in Samarra, Iraq, eight Iranians were killed and nearly 100 were injured. The Islamic State group, ISIS, claimed responsibility for this explosion. In this context, Rouhani called for a "more decisive response" from the Iraqi government against the perpetrators of the recent attack.