"The intelligence is clear-cut and indisputable," one source
said.
That source and a second, both of whom requested anonymity to
discuss the sensitive issue, said the intelligence comprised
communications intercepts, without providing further details.
The collection of the intercepts has not been previously
reported.
Wednesday's bombings, the deadliest of their kind in Iran since
the 1979 Islamic Revolution, added to regional tensions over the
Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and attacks by Yemen's Tehran-aligned
Houthi group on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
ISIS on Thursday claimed responsibility for the bombings, saying
two operatives wearing explosive suicide belts staged the attack
during a memorial service for Qassem Soleimani, a senior
military commander assassinated in Iraq in a 2020 U.S. drone
strike.
The Sunni Muslim militant group, however, did not specify that
its Afghanistan-based affiliate, known as ISIS-Khorasan
(ISIS-K), was responsible for the bombings in the southeastern
Iranian city of Kerman.
“The U.S. has pretty clear intel” that ISIS-K conducted the
attack, the first source said.
The Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment.
ISIS harbors a virulent hatred for Shi'ites -- Iran's dominant
sect and targets of its affiliate's attacks in Afghanistan --
who it views as apostates.
ISIS claimed responsibility for a 2022 attack on a Shi'ite
shrine in Iran that killed 15 people and 2017 bombings that hit
the parliament and the tomb of the Islamic Republic's founder,
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Iran on Friday said security forces had arrested 11 people
suspected of involvement in Wednesday's attack and had seized
explosive devices and vests.
While Taliban crackdowns have weakened ISIS-K and prompted some
members to leave Afghanistan for neighboring countries, the
affiliate has continued focusing on plotting foreign operations,
U.S. officials say.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay and Steve Holland in
WashingtonEditing by Susan Heavey, Matthew Lewis and Leslie
Adler)
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