Minister Charbel denounces attack on Iranian embassy in south Beirut's Bir Hassan

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel denounced on Monday the attack that targeted the Iranian Embassy in south Beirut's Bir Hassan region, expressing his hope that such terrorist attacks don not happen again.          

Minister Charbel said after offering his condolences at the Iranian Embassy that all Lebanese people are against what happened in south Beirut, stating that Lebanese authorities and security apparatuses will be putting forth their utmost efforts to reveal the circumstances of the attack.                   

"Security apparatuses are briefing Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghadanfar Roken Abadi on the latest updates regarding the investigations," Minister Charbel said.
    
For his part, Ambassador Roken Abadi praised the efforts exerted by Lebanese authorities to reveal the identity of the suicide attackers.

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.