Al Monitor| Rohollah Faghihi: On April 3, a major blast on a subway train in St. Petersburg killed at least 14 people and injured more than 40.





As Russia and Iran have been cooperating in the fight against the ISIS in Syria, reports about Russia and President Vladimir Putin have become important for many Iranians. The April 3 suicide bombing received blanket coverage from Iranian news agencies and news sites, which seemingly posted updates second by second.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi expressed his and Iran's sympathy for the explosion's victims.

“We once again reiterate the necessity for joint international efforts to seriously confront terrorism, regardless of the motivations behind it, and believe that there is no way to uproot these violent crimes except through serious resolve and determination by all states and international bodies,” Qassemi said.

One day after the explosion, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who met last week with Putin in Moscow, sent his condolences to the Russian president.

Rouhani said, “As we discussed in Moscow, rooting out all the forms of terrorism, without any attention to the motives [behind] it, needs the collective effort of the international community.”

Reformist, moderate and hard-line newspapers made the blast story one of their priorities, publishing analyses and articles about the potential reasons and groups behind it.