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       Thursday Briefing: Blasts in Iran Kill Dozens

       Plus, China shakes up its military.

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       By Justin Porter

       Jan. 3, 2024

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       A photograph released by Iranian state media showed emergency personnel at the blast site in Kerman, Iran. Credit...Mehr News Agency, via Associated Press

       Blasts in Iran killed at least 95 people A pair of explosions yesterday at a commemoration for Iran’s former top military general, Qassim Suleimani, killed at least 95 people and wounded another 211, according to Iranian officials. The blasts heightened tensions in the broader region a day after an explosion killed several Hamas officials in a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon.

       Iranian officials told state media that a pair of bombs exploded near a cemetery in Kerman, Iran, as a procession of people was on its way to observe the anniversary of the assassination of General Suleimani, who was killed four years ago in an American drone strike. Officials said the bombs appeared to have been detonated via remote control. Given the sheer scale of the blasts, the death toll was likely to rise.

       Elsewhere in the Middle East:

       It was unclear if the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, a top Hamas official, in Beirut on Tuesday would be debilitating for the group, analysts said. However, the killing appeared likely to halt further talks over freeing more hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attacks, U.S. officials said.

       U.S. spy agencies believe that Hamas used the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza as a command center, according to newly declassified American intelligence. The Israeli military stormed the complex in November.

       Image

       Credit...The New York Times

       Composure eased the Japanese jet evacuation After the fiery landing of Japan Airlines Flight 516 on Tuesday in Tokyo, its attendants evacuated all 367 passengers with no major injuries. While a number of factors aided what some have called a miracle, the relative absence of panic onboard may have helped the most.

       “Everyone started yelling in Japanese,” Anton Deibe, a 17-year-old passenger from Stockholm, told The Times. “I didn’t understand anything.” Still, he said, “there was a lot less commotion than I would have thought. The passengers were calm.”

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       Justin Porter is an editor on the Briefings newsletter team at The Times. More about Justin Porter

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