A vehicle bombing was also reported. IS claimed responsibility for the attacks, which included a auto bomb and two suicide attacks at the area amidst a crowd of people.
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A triple suicide bombing in Damascus clouded the already shaky peace process that was still struggling Sunday to get off the ground here.
State TV showed footage of burning buildings and wrecked cars in the neighborhood.
The Sayyida Zeinab mosque contains the grave of a granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammed and is particularly revered as a pilgrimage site by Shiite Muslims.
An IS-affiliated website said the attacks were carried out by members of the extremist group, which controls large areas in both Syria and Iraq.
In his address, Kerry referenced the Sayyida Zeinab shrine, where at least four people died in an attack in February previous year.
Jaafari said the government was prepared to discuss the delivery of humanitarian aid, but not as a precondition for starting the talks.
Meanwhile, a source familiar with the incident told Xinhua that the explosions killed 76 people, adding that the death toll could rise as tens of wounded people are critically wounded.
The attacks came as delegates from the Syrian government and opposition groups gathered in Geneva for tentative peace talks.
The main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee, belatedly sent a delegation to Geneva from its base in Saudi Arabia but declared that it would engage in talks with the government only if Damascus first took several steps, including a halt to bombing and besieging rebel-held zones.
Two attackers blew themselves up near the Sayidda Zeinab shrine on the southern edge of the city, which has been heavily contested in fighting including by Iranian-backed Shia militias.
The non-jihadist opposition, including political exiles, fear that the decision by Russian Federation to join the war on the regime side means that Bashar al-Assad, Syrian president, is less likely to negotiate seriously, thinking he can win the war militarily.
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The violence has also been the biggest driver behind Europe’s migration crisis. The talks – which involve the Syrian government and some opposition groups meeting with the United Nations, but not directly with each other – had a rocky start, with opposition groups initially refusing to attend and many involved in the conflict feeling alienated by the U.N.’s announcement of the talk’s beginning. “With the opposition’s delegation not showing up, it shows that they are not serious and irresponsible at a time when Syrians are being killed”.
