DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Islamic State claimed responsibility Thursday for two suicide bombings targeting a commemoration for an Iranian general slain in a 2020 U.S. drone strike, the worst terrorism attack to strike Iran in decades as the wider Middle East remains on edge.

Experts who follow the group confirmed that the statement, circulated online among jihadists, came from the extremists, who likely hope to take advantage of the chaos gripping the region amid Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Wednesday’s attack in Kerman killed at least 84 people and wounded 284. It targeted a ceremony honoring Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, held as an icon by supporters of the country’s theocracy and who aided militants who killed American troops in Iraq.

On Thursday, chunks of asphalt appeared missing from the road where one bomb went off, suggesting that the bomb had been packed with shrapnel to increase its deadly effects.

Islamic State’s claim said two men carried out the attacks with explosive vests. It also used disparaging language when discussing Shiites, whom the group views as heretics.

The group likely hoped to see Iran strike at Israel, widening its war against Hamas into a regional conflict that Islamic State could potentially take advantage of, said Aaron Zelin, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Islamic State previously claimed a June 2017 attack in Tehran on parliament and a mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 50.