Reports indicate there have been two explosions, possibly from a car bomb, near the Iranian Embassy in Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Tuesday.
At least 25 people have been killed, and Lebanese Health Minister Ali Hassan Khali says the explosions also wounded 146 people.
A spokesperson for the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a Sunni Islamist group, has claimed responsibility. In July, the Brigades said they fired four rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel.
Sirajuddin Zurayqat said the bombs were a call for the end of the activities of Iran and Hezbollah in Syria and for the release of Brigades members from Lebanese prisons. He promised more attacks if the group’s conditions were not met.
Security sources told media that a suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated a small device. This was followed by the explosion of a car packed with a bigger bomb, which caused much more destruction.
The main gate of the Embassy, which is in the neighborhood of Janah, was blown out. The exterior of the Embassy and three other buildings were damaged.
Iranian Ambassador Ghazanfar Roknabadi has confirmed that the Iranian Cultural Attache, Ibrahim Ansari, is among the dead. Sources said two other Iranian civilians were killed and Embassy guards are among the wounded.
“The agents of the Zionist entity Israel are behind the blasts,” Roknabadi told al-Mayadeen television. “This terrorist attack will not affect us, but it will make us stronger and more convinced of our stances.”
Television footage showed at least two charred bodies on the street leading to the Embassy. Several cars were burning.
Link to video — Warning: Graphic Images
Scene of #Iran embassy bomb #beirut. They had blast barriers up. Didn't help. pic.twitter.com/7UXeXNpo3d
— Ruth Sherlock (@Rsherlock) November 19, 2013
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati condemned the “terrorist and cowardly” attack, calling on all sides to exercise self-restraint and aksing security forces to act swiftly to detain the attackers.