Iran’s envoy injured in pager device explosion in Lebanese capital

By Rania Abu Shamala

ISTANBUL (AA) - Iranian Ambassador in Beirut Mojtabi Amani was reportedly injured in the mass explosion of handheld pager communication devices in Lebanon on Tuesday, according to state television.

Iranian media said the ambassador was transferred to a hospital in in Beirut after he was slightly injured in the explosion.

Mojtabi said in a post on his X account that his wife, too, was slightly injured in the explosion.

Two embassy employees were also wounded in the explosion, Lebanese media reports said.

Hundreds of people, including several Hezbollah members, were injured early Tuesday when pager devices exploded in the capital Beirut and several areas across Lebanon.

Local media reports suggested that the devices exploded after an Israeli breach of the communication system.

The Lebanese Health Ministry urged all citizens who own pager communication devices to immediately dispose of them.

Tensions have mounted along the Lebanon-Israel border amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with an offensive against Gaza. The brutal onslaught has killed over 41,200 people since last October following a Hamas attack.