The Iranian embassy bombing was a double

suicide bombing A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...

that occurred in front of the Iranian embassy in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

on 19 November 2013. The two bombings resulted in 23 deaths and injured at least 160 others.

Background

The bombings were seen as part of the spillover of the Syrian civil war, in which

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

have supported the Syrian government, while the

Abdullah Azzam Brigades The Abdullah Azzam Brigades ( ar, كتائب عبد الله عزام), or al-Qaeda in Lebanon, is a Sunni Islamist militant group, and al-Qaeda's branch in Lebanon. The group, which began operating in 2009, was founded by Saudi Saleh Al-Qara ...

have fought against the Syrian government. On the same day as the bombing, Syrian government forces seized the town of Qarah from rebel fighters in an opening action in the Battle of Qalamoun. The Syrian government effort at the time to eliminate the rebel stronghold in Qalamoun, a region along the Lebanese border with strong ties to the Lebanese Sunni town of

Arsal Arsal (also spelled Aarsal, Ersal or 'Irsal; ar, عرسال), is a town and municipality situated east of Labweh, northeast of Beirut, in Baalbek District of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, Lebanon.

, with strong support of Hezbollah fighters, was expected by some analysts to raise tensions within Lebanon.

Bombings

The area immediately outside the embassy gates was hit by two consecutive blasts. The first was reported to be carried out by a bomber either on a motorcycle or on foot. After people had rushed to the scene, a 4x4 vehicle two buildings away from the embassy blew up in a second, deadlier explosion. The two blasts occurred within 2 minutes of each other. Six buildings were reported to have been damaged. The bombs destroyed some building fronts and severely damaged the embassy gates, but caused only fairly minor damage to the embassy building.

Victims

According to Lebanon's

Health Ministry A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entity, Subnational entities, such as State (administrative division), states, county, counties an ...

at least 23 people were killed and 147 wounded. Iranian cultural attaché Ebrahim Ansari was among the dead, with five Iranian security personnel wounded. Ansari and the Iranian ambassador

Ghazanfar Roknabadi Ghazanfar Mohammad Asl Roknabadi (21 March 1966 – 24 September 2015) was an Iranian diplomat, who served as the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon from 2010 to 2014. Rokanabadi is known to have had strong ties to Lebanon's Hezbollah. He survived man ...

were scheduled to leave the embassy to attend a meeting at the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) *Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

at around the time when the bombs went off. The embassy's head of security, a Lebanese national, was also killed in the blast.

Claims of responsibility

The

, a

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

Islamist militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group declared that its attacks against Iran would continue until Iran "withdraws its forces from Syria". The group has made false claims in the past. On 31 December, sources confirmed that Lebanese authorities have captured Majid bin Mohammad al-Majid, the Saudi leader of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades. Leader of Hezbollah

Hassan Nasrallah Hassan Nasrallah ( ar, حسن نصر الله ; born 31 August 1960) is a Lebanese cleric and political leader who has served as the 3rd secretary-general of Hezbollah since his predecessor, Abbas al-Musawi, was assassinated by the Israel Def ...

said in December television interview that the attack was "linked to the Saudi intelligence services" because of "Saudi Arabia's rage against Iran over (Saudi Arabia's) failure" in Syria.

Reactions

;Domestic Hezbollah held a public funeral and rally in Beirut the day after the attack. Hezbollah deputy leader

Naim Qassem Naim Qassem ( ar, نعيم قاسم; born 1953) is a Shia Lebanese cleric and politician, who was the second-in-command of Hezbollah with the title of deputy secretary-general. Early life and education Qassem was born into a Shiite family in Kf ...

vowed to continue support for the Syrian government in saying the attacks in Lebanon were "inevitable pains on the road to victory", while mourners chanted "

Death to America Death to America ( fa, مرگ بر آمریکا, translit=Marg bar Āmrikā; ) is an anti-American political slogan. It is used in Iran,Arash KaramiKhomeini Orders Media to End 'Death to America' Chant, Iran Pulse, October 13, 2013 Afghanistan, ...

, Israel, and the

takfiri ''Takfiri'' ( ar, تَكْفِيرِيّ, ' lit. "excommunicational") is an Arabic and Islamic term denoting a Muslim who excommunicates one of his/her coreligionists, i.e. who accuses another Muslim of being an apostate. Since according to t ...

s!" ;Regional Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman

Marzieh Afkham Marzieh Afkham ( fa, مرضیه افخم) is an Iranian diplomat who served as the ambassador to Malaysia for four years. She is former spokeswoman and head of the Center for Public and Media Diplomacy in Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ...

blamed Israel for the attack, calling it "an inhuman crime and spiteful act done by Zionists and their mercenaries".

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

denied any involvement. Saudi Arabia called on all its citizens to leave the country. ;Other states and entities The attacks were condemned by the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

, China,Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei's Regular Press Conference on 20 November 2013
Foreign Ministry of China 20 November 2013 France, Syria, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Tom Fletcher Thomas Michael Fletcher (born 17 July 1985) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, composer, author and vlogger. He is one of the lead vocalists and rhythm guitarist of English pop rock band McFly, in addition to being the group's founder ...

, the British ambassador to Beirut, personally donated blood and expressed solidarity with those affected.

References

External links

Iranian embassy in Lebanon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iranian embassy bombing 2013 in Lebanon Attacks on diplomatic missions of Iran Attacks on diplomatic missions in Lebanon Terrorist incidents in Lebanon during the Syrian civil war Car and truck bombings in Lebanon Iran–Lebanon relations Mass murder in 2013 Suicide bombings in Lebanon Terrorist incidents in Lebanon in 2013 Terrorist incidents in Beirut 2010s in Beirut Building bombings in Lebanon November 2013 events in Lebanon