The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Monday for a suicide blast at a Chinese restaurant in Afghanistan that killed more than half a dozen people.

Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, told The New York Times the attack was carried out by one person linked to ISIS-Khorasan, commonly known as ISIS-K, one of the terrorist group’s most lethal branches.

ISIS-K has claimed it targets Chinese citizens as retaliation for Beijing's treatment of Uyghurs, a Muslim minority group, and has also denounced the Afghan government's relationship with China, according to the Times.

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Kabul police command spokesman Khalid Zadran said on X that seven people were killed in the explosion, including six Afghans and one Chinese national. Several others were injured.

Zadran said the blast occurred around 3 p.m. local time at a Chinese noodle restaurant in Kabul's Shahr-e-Naw neighborhood that was jointly run by Abdul Majeed, a Chinese Muslim from Xinjiang province, his wife, and an Afghan named Abdul Jabbar Mahmoud.

"The explosion occurred near the kitchen. The nature of the explosion is still unknown, investigations are ongoing," he added.

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China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday that one Chinese national was killed and five others were wounded in the attack.

Jiakun offered condolences to the families and said officials from the Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan have visited the wounded in the hospital. He said China urged the Afghan government to do more to keep Chinese nationals and institutions safe.

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"China strongly condemns and firmly opposes any form of terrorism, supports Afghanistan and regional countries in jointly fighting all forms of terrorist and violent activities," he said.

"Given the current security situation in Afghanistan, the Ministry once again advises Chinese nationals not to travel to Afghanistan in the near future and asks Chinese nationals and companies already in Afghanistan to take extra precautions, step up security and depart high-risk regions as soon as possible."

One of Iran’s most senior officials issued a direct threat against President Donald Trump Thursday while warning that U.S. military action would provoke retaliation against American forces across the Middle East, according to Iranian media reports.

The remarks came as well-placed sources confirmed to Fox News Digital at least one American aircraft carrier was being repositioned toward the Middle East amid rising tensions with Tehran.

Senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) General Mohsen Rezaei, a member of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, reportedly made his threat during a public address.

"Trump has said his hand is on the trigger. We will cut off his hand and his finger," Rezaei said, according to Iran International.

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The outlet also said that Rezaei maintained that Iran would abandon any notion of a ceasefire if attacked. 

"If we move forward, there will be no talk of a ceasefire anymore," he said. "You do not pay attention to the restraint and strategic patience we have shown. Stop right now. Step back, otherwise none of your bases in the region will be safe," Rezaei added.

The threat surfaced as at least one U.S. aircraft carrier could be moving toward the Middle East, according to sources.

Officials have not disclosed whether it is USS Abraham Lincoln, currently operating in the South China Sea, or one of two carriers that departed Norfolk and San Diego earlier this week.

Military sources said transit to the region could take at least a week, with additional U.S. air, land and sea assets expected to follow to provide Trump with military options should he order strikes against Iran.

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Rezaei is one of Iran’s most powerful military figures. He served as commander in chief of the IRGC from 1980 to 1997 and is currently vice president for economic affairs, secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for Economic Coordination and a senior figure in the Principlist Resistance Front of Islamic Iran.

In 2006, Argentine authorities issued an international arrest warrant for Rezaei in connection with the 1994 AMIA Jewish community center bombing in Buenos Aires. He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in January 2020 under Executive Order 13876 for advancing Iran’s destabilizing objectives.

During his tenure, the IRGC expanded repression at home and supported terrorist proxy groups abroad, including Hezbollah.

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Meanwhile, unrest inside Iran continued into its 19th day. According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 2,677 arrests have been recorded with 1,693 additional cases under investigation.

Another agency also reported expanded communication blackouts, including the shutdown of landlines in some areas.

"They are continuing as before, but not at the pace before the slaughter of thousands and the arrests," Ali Safavi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) told Fox News Digital, claiming as many as 50,000 detainees.

"There is still a total shutdown of the internet. Security forces are raiding residential areas and going to people’s rooftops. They started destroying satellite dishes," Safavi said before describing clashes continuing through Wednesday night into Thursday in Tehran and Kermanshah, including gunfire.

NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi also urged the international community to act immediately to secure the release of detainees and demanded an urgent international fact-finding mission to Iran’s prisons.