Lebanon Facing Sensitive Political, Security Conditions : Envoy

Tehran, Nov 20, IRNA – Lebanese Ambassador to Tehran Fadi Hajj Ali said that his country is facing sensitive political and security conditions. Talking to IRNA on Tuesday, he said despite the highly sensitive conditions, the Lebanese government has tightened security measures to protect foreign missions in the country following the attack on the Iranian embassy premises in Beirut. Referring to the effects of the Syrian crisis on the whole region including Lebanon, he said his country is now in a very sensitive political and security situation. He said Iran and Lebanon share the same views regarding fighting terrorism. Referring to the Lebanese president’s phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart to condemn the terrorist attack on the Iranian embassy building in Beirut, he expressed condolences over the martyrdom of the Iranian cultural attaché in Lebanon during the terrorist incident. Two explosions near the Iranian embassy in Beirut have killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 150. The attack shattered more than two months of relative calm in Lebanon and was cast by some officials as another spillover from the devastating war in neighboring Syria. One of the explosions is thought to have targeted a convoy arriving at the embassy, which contained the late Iranian Cultural Attaché Ebrahim Ansari. Among those killed there were embassy guards, who eyewitnesses said had tried to stop a suicide bomber riding a motorbike near the building gates, destroyed in the attack./end