Lebanon security disruption, new US-Israel plot: MP

A senior Iranian lawmaker says the United States and Israel are seeking to undermine Lebanon’s security and stability after they failed to overthrow the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“The involvement of Zionists in Beirut blast [on Friday] is beyond any doubt. The Zionist regime [of Israel] has hatched numerous plots to disrupt Lebanon’s internal security, and seeks to create discord and fuel civil war in Lebanon,” Chairman of Iran Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Friday.

“All Lebanese political groups should thus recognize the fact that the disruption of Lebanon’s security and stability, which is of paramount significance in the Middle East, is a new caprice after the failure of the Americans’ and Zionists’ conspiracies to change the political structure in Syria,” he added.

At least five people were killed and over 70 others injured after a huge car bomb went off near the headquarters of Lebanon’s March 14 Alliance and the parliament in the central part of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Friday.

A senior figure of the March 14 Alliance and former finance minister, Mohammad Shatah, and a companion of his were among those killed in the blast. Shatah also served as an adviser to the country’s ex-prime minister, Saad al-Hariri.

The Lebanese capital has been hit by several deadly bomb attacks over the past few months.