US warned Iran before Islamic State attack that killed more than 80 people: Report

The United States secretly alerted Iran that the Islamic State had planned a terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of more than 80 people earlier this month in coordinated suicide bombings near the tomb of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, according to a new report Thursday. 

"Prior to ISIS’s terrorist attack on January 3, 2024, in Kerman, Iran, the US government provided Iran with a private warning that there was a terrorist threat within Iranian borders," a U.S. official told The Wall Street Journal.

"The US government followed a longstanding 'duty to warn' policy that has been implemented across administrations to warn governments against potential lethal threats," the official also said. "We provide these warnings in part because we do not want to see innocent lives lost in terror attacks."

U.S. intelligence on the ISIS-Khorasan attack plan was specific and timely enough that it could have helped Iran prevent the suicide bombings, American officials said. 

Although Iran initially blamed Israel and the United States for the blasts that claimed at least 94 lives and left hundreds of others injured, the Islamic State claimed responsibility one day after the attack.

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