Ambassador Roken Abadi: Iranian experts arrived to Lebanon

Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghadanfar Roken Abadi said on Saturday that Lebanese authorities are exerting efforts to reveal the circumstances of the 2 suicide attacks that targeted the Iranian Embassy in Bir Hassan, adding that important information pertaining to the identity of the attackers is being revealed.
   
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has confidence that Lebanese authorities are carrying out their duties to the fullest,” Ambassador Roken Abadi said.

Ambassador Roken Abadi told the Tehran-based Al-Kawthar TV that Iranian experts reached Lebanon to cooperate with Lebanese officials in a bid to reveal details relevant to the attacks.

Roken Abadi reiterated Tehran’s accusation to Israel and its allies, pointing out that perpetrators aimed at targeting the security of Lebanon and the entire region.

“Cooperated steps should be taken against extremism and terrorism,” Roken Abadi added.

Ambassador Roken Abadi refused to describe the security situation in Lebanon as being similar to that in Iraq and Syria saying that dozens of explosions target the Iraqi and Syrian territories on a daily basis.

“The situation in Lebanon is different since there is a popular and political Lebanese decision to face terrorism and prevent its widespread in Lebanese regions,” the ambassador said. 

A double suicide attack targeted on Tuesday, November 19 the Iranian embassy in south Beirut’s Bir Hassan region, killing at least 23 people, wounding 146 and damaging buildings in the embassy compound.      

Live footage from local news channels showed charred bodies on the ground as flames rose from the remains of several vehicles. Aid workers and residents carried away some of the victims on blankets.                        

Caretaker Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil stated that the Cultural Attache of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sheikh Ibrahim Ansari was killed in the blasts. Ansari took his post in Lebanon a month ago and was overseeing all regional cultural activities.        

The Abdullah Azzam brigades, a Lebanon-based al-Qaeda affiliate, said it was behind a double suicide attack on the Iranian embassy.