Beirut: Iran's ambassador in Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, has been wounded in the explosion of pagers in the country, Iranian news reported on Tuesday. "Amani has a superficial injury and is currently under observation in a hospital," Fars quoted a source as saying. 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.
Officials pointed the finger at Israel in what appeared to be a sophisticated, remote attack at a time of rising tensions across the Lebanon border. A Hezbollah official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that “several hundred” people, including members of the group, were wounded in different parts of Lebanon when their handheld pagers exploded. He said a few Hezbollah fighters were also wounded in Syria when the pagers they were carrying exploded, and said it was believed to be an Israeli attack.
Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, close to the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard, said on its Telegram channel that Mojtaba Amani, Iran's ambassador in Lebanon, has a superficial injury and is under observation at a hospital. Another semi-official Mehr news agency, also on its Telegram channel, reported that Amani was wounded by a pager explosion.
Photos and videos from Beirut's southern suburbs circulating on social media and in local media showed people lying on the pavement with wounds on their hands or near their pants pockets. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah previously warned the group's members not to carry cellphones, saying that they could be used by Israel to track their movements and to carry out targeted strikes.
Lebanon's Health Ministry called on all hospitals to be on alert to take in emergency patients and for people who own pagers to get away from them. It also asked health workers to avoid using wireless devices. AP photographers at area hospitals said the emergency rooms were overloaded with patients, many of them with injuries to their limbs, some in serious condition.
The state-run National News Agency said hospitals in southern Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut's southern suburbs — all areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence — had called on people to donate blood of all types. The news agency reported that in Beirut's southern suburbs and other areas “the handheld pagers system was detonated using advanced technology, and dozens of injuries were reported.”
The Hezbollah official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media said the explosions were the result of “a security operation that targeted the devices.” “The enemy (Israel) stands behind this security incident,” the official said, without elaborating. He added that the new pagers that Hezbollah members were carrying had lithium batteries that apparently exploded.
