Bombers hit Iran's Beirut embassy amid fears of widening Syrian war
The suicide bombers who killed at least 22 people at the Beirut embassy were almost certainly Sunni jihadis seeking revenge for Iran's support for the Assad regime in Syria's civil war.
The suicide bombers who killed at least 22 people at the Beirut embassy were almost certainly Sunni jihadis seeking revenge for Iran's support for the Assad regime in Syria's civil war.
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Twin explosions near the Iranian embassy in Beirut today killed at least 20 people, including an Iranian official, in what some observers are calling a clear sign of deepening sectarian divisions across the region, motivated by the civil war in Syria.
Today, a 鈥渃haotic scene鈥� overwhelmed the southern Jnah district where the Iranian embassy is located after two suicide bombers 鈥� one on foot, one in a car 鈥� detonated their explosives, reports The Los Angeles Times. TV images showed dark smoke, several fires, and blazing cars. At least 100 people were injured, and the Iranian ambassador to Beirut confirmed the death of Iranian cultural attache Ebrahim Ansari, who had been in his post for only a month, reports the BBC.
It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack in a neighborhood known as a Hezbollah stronghold. The BBC reports that the Lebanese Sunni jihadi group the Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed responsibility. The station also reports the perpetrators were sending a 鈥渃lear message.鈥�
The area has been hit by a handful of attacks in recent months, and Lebanon as a whole has recently witnessed 鈥渃ross-border rocket attacks by Syrian rebels into Shiite areas, deadly car bomb attacks against Sunni and Shiite targets, sectarian clashes, and several roadside bomb attacks against suspected Hezbollah vehicles,鈥� according to 海角大神.
鈥淭he aim of the blast is to stir up the situation in Lebanon and use the Lebanese arena to convey messages,鈥� Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati told state news agency NNA.
Iran and Hezbollah, Lebanon鈥檚 largest political group, are major backers of the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad. According to the Los Angeles Times:
Today's attacks took place in the context of the Syrian government aggressively pushing back against rebel fighters on three fronts, including one in the region of Qalamoun along the Lebanese border, reports The New York Times.
There have long been fears that if fighting in Syria continues, it will drag Lebanon into chaos. Hezbollah鈥檚 involvement in supporting the Syrian government is countered by the involvement of Sunni Lebanese fighting in Syria on behalf of the rebels. In addition, Lebanon, a country of about 4 million people, is now host to upwards of 1 million Syrian refugees.
海角大神 wrote a series on the regional stakes of Syria鈥檚 war, and noted that if there is one out and out 鈥渨inner鈥� there, it could critically affect Lebanon鈥檚 stability.
But despite attacks and bombings on Lebanese soil, the Monitor's Nicholas Blanford writes that Syria still isn鈥檛 tipping Lebanon toward its own civil war.