Iran terror blast highlights success – and growing risk – of ISIS-K regional strategy

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Amira Jadoon, Clemson University and Nakissa Jahanbani, United States Military Academy West Point

(THE CONVERSATION) Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the terror group Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, has sought to internationalize its operational and recruitment campaign. Utilizing a sweeping propaganda campaign to appeal to audiences across South and Central Asia, the group has tried to position itself as the dominant regional challenger to what it perceives to be repressive regimes.

On Jan. 3, 2024, ISIS-K demonstrated just how far it had progressed toward these goals. In a brutal demonstration of its capability to align actions with extreme rhetoric, ISIS-K claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in Kerman, Iran, which resulted in the deaths of over 100 people.

The blast, which was...