Lebanon blasts near Iran's embassy in Beirut

[jakeXT]

Source: BBC

Seven people have been reported killed as explosions struck near the Iranian embassy in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Conflicting reports say the blasts could have come from rockets or a car bomb. Several buildings were damaged, eyewitnesses said.

Iran is a major backer of the Lebanaese Shia militant group Hezbollah, which has sent fighters to Syria to back the government of Bashar al-Assad.

The conflict in Syria has worsened sectarian tensions in Lebanon



Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24997876

[jakeXT]

1. Beirut blast: Double bombing near Iran embassy kills at least 23, injures 146

Two blasts near the Iranian embassy in Beirut killed at least 23 people, injuring 146 and causing havoc and massive fire in the Lebanese capital. Six buildings were reportedly destroyed in the embassy compound.

According to a local news source, Almanar News, the harrowing scene was caused by 100kg of TNT loaded into a Renault Rapid.

Witnesses at the scene also reported that the two blasts occurred within one or two minutes of each other.

Wounded people and destroyed buildings were seen on very disturbing pictures circulated by Lebanese media in the immediate aftermath.

http://rt.com/news/beirut-iran-embassy-blast-942/

[bemildred]

2. Al-Qaeda Group in Lebanon Claims Responsibility for Iran Embassy Bombing

An al-Qaeda-linked group in Lebanon claimed responsibility for an attack Tuesday on the Iranian embassy in southern Beirut that killed 23 people, including an Iranian cultural attaché.

The dual blasts outside the fortified compound injured 146 people, the Health Ministry said. Lebanese television cited Iranian diplomatic sources as saying none of the staff inside the embassy was hurt, Reuters reports.

The obscure group Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on Twitter and on a militant website. The group said it will continue the attacks until the Iranian-backed Shi`ite group Hezbollah withdraws its fighters from the Syrian civil war.

http://world.time.com/2013/11/19/al-qaeda-group-in-lebanon-claims-responsibility-for-iran-embassy-bombing/

[Jesus Malverde]

3. Twin Blasts Near Iranian Embassy in Beirut Kill at Least 23

Bomb explosions near the Iranian embassy in Beirut killed at least 23 people, including a diplomat, in the third attack in the Lebanese capital since Hezbollah militants joined the civil war in neighboring Syria.

Ibrahim Ansari, a cleric who acted as the embassy’s cultural attache, died in the attack, Iran’s state-run television reported. At least 147 people were wounded in the blasts, which were carried out by suicide bombers, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said, citing preliminary information.

Sectarian violence has surged in Lebanon since May when Hezbollah, supported by Iran and considered a terrorist group by the U.S. and European Union, openly admitted it had joined Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in his war against mainly Sunni Muslim rebels. Two bombs in Beirut’s southern suburb, a Hezbollah stronghold, killed more than a dozen people in July and August.

“Iran strongly condemns the terrorist attacks in front of the Iranian embassy,” said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said in an interview. “Our assessment is that this action was caused by the Zionist regime and its agents.”

The blasts show that the Syrian opposition “is fighting back and hard against high-value targets,” said Theodore Karasik, director of research at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai.

http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/Twin-Blasts-Near-Iranian-Embassy-in-Beirut-Kill-4992908.php

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. Hezbollah will respond. Now waiting for other shoe to drop.