At least 23 people were killed Tuesday morning when an
explosion targeting the Iranian embassy rocked south Beirut. The cultural
attache at the Iranian embassy, Ebrahim Ansari, is among the dead.
It was not immediately clear what had caused the explosions,
and local reports varied from rockets to car bombs. Lebanese television
stations said at least 140 people were wounded, but they quoted Iranian
diplomatic sources saying none of their staff inside the embassy was hurt.
Live footage from local news channels showed charred bodies
on the ground as flames rose from the remains of several vehicles. Aid workers
and residents carried away some of the victims on blankets.
According to the Lebanese OTV Channel the blast may have
been caused by a suicide bomber.
The blasts in south Beirut's neighborhood of Janah also
caused extensive damage on the nearby buildings and the Iranian mission. The
area is a stronghold of the militant Hezbollah group, which is a main ally of
Syrian President Bashar Assad in the civil war next door. It's not clear if the
blasts are related to Syria's civil war.
The neighborhood has been hit by several explosions in the
past weeks that killed and wounded scores. Those attacks were blamed on groups
linked to the rebels, believed to be in retaliation for its involvement in
Syria's civil war.
Hezbollah fighters have been supporting Assad's forces in
several strategic battles across Syria, a move that has also increased sectarian
tension in the two countries.
The Syrian uprising has been mostly led by the country's
Sunni Muslim majority and has been widely supported by Sunnis in Lebanon. Assad
is from the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.
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