Beirut Iran embassy blast kills 23

The mid-morning blasts hit Beirut’s upmarket district of Janah, a stronghold of the Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group. One explosion blew out the large black main gate of the Iranian mission.

It was not clear if the bombings were related to the conflict next door in Syria, but attacks have targeted Hezbollah strongholds in recent months in what many see as retaliation by Sunni extremists for the militant Shiite group’s role in the Syrian civil war.

The main gate of the Iranian embassy was blown out and there was damage to the three-storey building. It was not known if anyone inside was hurt.

Debris was scattered across the street and cars were on fire as people ran away from the chaotic scene.

The second blast was yards away from the embassy.

An armed guard at the embassy said the first blast was believed to have been caused by a suicide attacker riding a motorcycle 
who blew himself up outside the gate.

The other explosion, which caused much more damage, was a car bomb, the guard said.

A charred motorcycle stood outside the embassy gate.

TV footage showed at least two bodies in the street nearby.

Other wounded men covered with blood were seen across the street from the embassy.

Hezbollah fighters have been fighting alongside Syrian president Bashar Assad’s forces against largely Sunni rebels seeking to topple his government.

Two Iranians were among the dead, including diplomat Sheikh Ibrahim Ansari who took up his post as cultural attaché only a month ago and was overseeing all regional cultural activities.

“We tell those who carried out the attack, you will not be able to break us,” Hezbollah’s Ali Mikdad told Al-Mayadeen TV. “We got the message and we know who sent it and we know how to retaliate.”

Later an al-Qaida-linked group claimed responsibility for the bombings.

The obscure Abdullah Azzam Brigades said it would continue with its attacks until Hezbollah withdrew its forces from Syria.

The predominantly-Shiite south Beirut has been targeted in the past months with car bombs and rockets in what Syrian rebels say is retaliation to Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria’s civil war.

Iran has been one of Assad’s strongest supporters, supplying him with money and weapons since the Syrian crisis began in March 2011.

Meanwhile, Syrian troops have captured a town near the Lebanon border, days after launching a wide offensive to regain the mountainous region, state TV reported.

There was no immediate confirmation of the reported capture of Qara from rebels or pro-rebel activists.

TV reported yesterday that troops were now “in full control of Qara after wiping out all terrorists units in it”.

Syria refers to opposition fighters as terrorists.

Qara sits on a key supply route from Lebanon to opposition forces around Damascus, as well as on the main north-south road that links the capital to government strongholds along the Mediterranean coast.

On Monday it was revealed that the leader of one of Syria’s most prominent rebel units had died after being wounded during an attack by government troops last week.

The death of Abdul-Qadir Saleh, founder of the Tawhid Brigade followed advances by Assad’s troops against rebels on two key fronts: the capture of a string of opposition-held suburbs south of Damascus and the taking of two towns and a military base outside the northern city of Aleppo.