Iran's ambassador to Lebanon injured by pager explosion

Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was slightly injured on Tuesday by the explosion of an electronic pager, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported, as numerous such devices exploded across Lebanon.

"Amani has a superficial injury and is currently under observation in a hospital," Fars quoted a source as saying.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, in a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart, strongly condemned the "terrorist attack" and thanked Lebanon for providing immediate medical treatment to Amani, Iranian state media reported.


More than 1,000 people across Lebanon, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded, security sources told Reuters.

A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation of the pagers was the "biggest security breach" the group had suffered in nearly a year of war with Israel.

Hezbollah is a powerful Lebanese Islamist militia and political movement backed by Iran, and a sworn enemy of Israel.