The Islamic State — Khorasan Province (ISIS-K or ISKP) took responsibility on Thursday for two explosions near the gravesite of former Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani that killed at least 84 mourners on Wednesday.
The explosions happened on the fourth anniversary of the leader's assassination by the US and initially sparked concern among some foreign affairs experts that the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which has Iranian backing, might be spreading.
Israel has assassinated Iranians in the past, mostly people associated with its nuclear program, and recently senior figures in Hamas and Hezbollah, leading some Iranian officials to suggest the Israeli government was behind the bombings.
However, the large-scale attack better fits the pattern of ISIS and its subgroups like ISIS-K, an offshoot of ISIS that operates in areas of Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
ISIS-K is a Sunni Muslim supremacist group that perpetrates terror attacks against other traditions that don't fit its strict interpretation of Islam. Though ISIS's infrastructure and ability to control land in Iraq and Syria were largely eliminated by 2017, its affiliates in the Arabian Peninsula, parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, and Khorasan still exist.
In Afghanistan, ISIS-K has attacked Shia minorities, killing hundreds of people over the past two years. A series of large, deadly attacks — apparently in protest of democracy — rocked Pakistan over the last year.
Though ISIS was ultimately responsible for the attack in Iran, fears that the Israel-Hamas conflict may spread remain. The big takeaway, however, is this: Wednesday's attack doesn't really show that ISIS is "back" because, when you look at the evidence, it never really went away.
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