23 killed as explosions rock Iranian Embassy in Beirut

At least 23 people were killed and 146 wounded when loud explosions rocked the site of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut Tuesday, officials said.

Several cars were engulfed in flames in the street in front of the embassy building, located in the southern district of Beir Hassan, and smoke billowed over the skyline above the scene.


Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Rokon Abadi, was uninjured, but in an interview with Lebanese television he said Iranian cultural attache Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Ansari was badly wounded.
Eyewitnesses described charred bodies and a large crater suggesting the attack may have been caused by a bomb rather than rocket fire as first suspected.
Lebanese media said the incident was a suicide bomb attack carried out using a car and a motorcycle.