In Lebanon, at least 23 people were killed while 150 others were injured in two powerful bomb explosions outside the Iranian embassy in southern Beirut today. Among those killed was the Cultural Advisor of the Iranian embassy in Beirut.

Iranian Ambassador in Lebanon Ghazanfar Rokn-Abadi, said all other staff inside the embassy at the time of the attack escaped unharmed.

The blasts took place just opposite the multi-storey Iranian embassy, ripped the facades off nearby buildings and set the cars ablaze. The area is a stronghold of Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah.

The Lebanese, Iranian and Syrian Governments have condemned the blasts. The Head of the Indian Chancery in Beirut, Sunil Kumar told AIR that all Indian nationals and the Embassy officials are safe. The Indian Embassy incidentally is in the eastern part of the Beirut and far away from the site of the blasts.