Kerman, Iran - Scores people were killed in Iran Wednesday as two bombs in quick succession struck a crowd commemorating slain general Qasem Soleimani on the anniversary of his killing, state media reported.

The blasts, which state television called a "terrorist attack," came with tensions running high in the Middle East, a day after Hamas number two Saleh al-Aruri – an Iran ally – was killed in a drone attack on a Beirut southern suburb which Lebanese officials blamed on Israel, amid its war on Gaza.

Wednesday's blasts stuck near the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque in Kerman, Soleimani's southern hometown where he is buried, as supporters gathered to mark the fourth anniversary of his assassination through a US drone strike ordered by then-president Donald Trump.

Kerman's deputy governor, Rahman Jalali, said the explosions were a "terrorist attack".

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Iran's Tasnim news agency, quoting informed sources, said "two bags carrying bombs went off" at the site. "The perpetrators... of this incident apparently detonated the bombs by remote control," it added.

The ISNA news agency quoted Kerman mayor Saeed Tabrizi as saying the bombs exploded 10 minutes apart.

"We were walking towards the cemetery when a car suddenly stopped behind us and a waste bin containing a bomb exploded," an eyewitness was quoted by ISNA as saying.

"We only heard the sound of the explosion and saw people falling. There was a bomb in the trash can," the witness added.

Online footage showed crowds scrambling to flee as security personnel cordoned off the area.

Among the 73 killed were three paramedics who were dispatched to the area following the first explosion, according to Iran's Red Crescent.

One day after the devastating attack in the city of Kerman, Iran's emergency services have revised the death toll downward, this time to 84 killed and 284 injured.

The new figures, released on Thursday, are according to the state news agency IRNA, which cited the head of Iran's National Medical Emergency Organization, Jafar Miadfar.

State media had initially given the death toll as 103 on Wednesday, but Health Minister Bahram Einollahi corrected it to 95 hours later.

Miadfar explained the confusion surrounding the casualty figures with the condition of the bodies.

The motive and who is responsible for the deadliest attack in the 45-year history of the Islamic Republic remain unknown.