At least 23 people have been killed and nearly 150 injured in a double bomb attack on the Iranian... euronews, the most watched news channel in Europe Subscribe for your daily dose of international news, curated and explained:http://eurone.ws/10ZCK4a Euronews is available in 13 other languages: http://eurone.ws/17moBCU http://www.euronews.com/1970/01/01/ At least 23 people have been killed and nearly 150 injured in a double bomb attack on the Iranian embassy in southern Beirut. No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which damaged six buildings in the embassy compound, and surrounding vehicles and buildings. There are conflicting reports about the attack, and casualties. One eyewitness said two rockets had been fired at the compound, while an Iranian security guard said a suicide bomber had turned up at the main gate and detonated his device before a second bomber arrived in a car with a much larger device. The Iranians say none of their personnel has been hurt, but the Lebanese authorities say the cultural attache has been killed. The embassy is in the upmarket Janah district in the Lebanese capital, a Hezbollah stronghold. Iran is one of Hezbollah's main backers and both support the Bassar al-Assad regime in Syria. Hezbollah commands respect among many Lebanese for its opposition to Israel, but is predominantly Shia Muslim in a country whose religious and ethnic patchwork makes for a fragile society where Shia, Sunni, Christian and other faiths have bitter memories of the country's long civil war towards the end of the last century. Lebanon's Sunnis have few reasons to like Hezbollah. Hezbollah's support for Assad in Syria, Lebanon's former master and occupier, has raised tensions and there have been several anti-Hezbollah attacks in southern Beirut in recent months. Although this is not a direct attack on Hezbollah, it is by far the worst in the area from which it draws most of its electoral support. With Iranian soldiers also fighting alongside Hezbollah and the regime's forces in Syria against mainly Sunni opponents, the potential for the conflict to spread into Lebanon is huge and may explain why the Iranians have been targeted. ==Another picture of the blast site #Beirut #Lebanon ~ 15+ people killed pic.twitter.com/Of4wuKtBG9— Pieter Van Ostaeyen (@p_vanostaeyen) November 19, 2013 == ==احتراق السّيارات بسبب التّفجير #Lebanon #Beirut pic.twitter.com/Kl8z5KHlPD— Ahmad M. Yassine (@Lobnene_Blog) November 19, 2013 == ==دمار هائل بعد التّفجير #Lebanon #Beirut pic.twitter.com/1zt9anZLZR— Ahmad M. Yassine (@Lobnene_Blog) November 19, 2013 == ==Photo: Soldiers & medical personnel gather at the site of explosions near Iranian embassy in Beirut #Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/4CTTPKJ1qA— فلسطين i (@iFalasteen) November 19, 2013 Find us on: Youtube http://bit.ly/zr3upY Facebook http://www.facebook.com/euronews.fans Twitter http://twitter.com/euronews

• published: 19 Nov 2013
• views: 1490