Iran seeks Lebanon cooperation on bombings probe

Iran asks Lebanon to cooperate with an Iranian team due to visit the Arab country to investigate last year’s deadly terrorist attacks near the Islamic Republic’s embassy in Beirut.

Meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Adnan Mansour on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif demanded Beirut’s cooperation with the team, IRNA reported.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on Saturday that the team will include experts from the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, Attorney General’s Office, and Foreign Ministry.

On November 19, 2013, two bomb attacks near the Iranian embassy in Beirut killed 25 people, including six Iranian nationals, and injured more than 150.

Following the incident, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an al-Qaeda offshoot that operates throughout the Middle East, claimed responsibility for the bombings.

On December 3, Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah said Saudi Arabia is behind the bombing, adding that he has no doubt that the Saudi intelligence agency has close links with the Abdullah Azzam Brigades.

On January 1, the Lebanese government confirmed the arrest of Majid Al-Majid, the ringleader of the group. A Lebanese army statement said on January 4 that al-Majid had died at a military hospital in Beirut earlier in the day, while receiving medical treatment for kidney failure.

Majed was a high-profile terrorist also wanted by the US and some other countries.

Earlier in the month, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdullahian stressed the necessity of Lebanese officials’ investigating the circumstances surrounding al-Majed’s death.

Zarif said, “It is urgent that all countries, in line with preventing the continuation of the inclination towards violence and terrorism and extremism, confront those supporting and causing such grim phenomena more than before.”

The Iranian foreign minister also pointed to the importance of the bilateral relations and placed emphasis on the development of the ties in all areas. He emphasized the Islamic Republic’s all-out support for Lebanon’s national unity.

For his part, Mansour condemned the terrorist attacks and considered it damage caused to Lebanon.

He further considered the establishment of balanced relations with Iran in the economic and cultural areas important.