Lebanon pager explosion: Iran accuses Israel of 'mass murder'
Iran on Wednesday accused Israel of "mass murder" after pager explosions in Lebanon and Syria that left at least nine people dead and injured around 2,800 others, including Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, Hezbollah militants and civilians. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani condemned the "terrorist act of the Zionist regime... as an example of mass murder."
CREDIT: REUTERS
Earlier, Hezbollah, which promised to retaliate, said Israel would receive "its fair punishment" for the blasts on Tuesday.
Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary also condemned the serial blasts of pagers, allegedly carried out by Mossad, as an "Israeli aggression."
The serial blasts were reported predominantly from southern Lebanon's Dahiyeh and the eastern Bekaa Valley. They were carried out remotely, using explosives implanted in the pagers during the manufacturing process.
CREDIT: REUTERS
Beyond the deaths and injuries, the pager explosions are a major embarrassment for the Iran-backed militia, which has emerged as one of the biggest regional threats to Israel.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the incident was the "biggest security breach" for the group in nearly a year of conflict with Israel.
Since its inception in 1982, Hezbollah has waged an asymmetric, bloody war against Israel. With the financial and arms backing of Iran, Hezbollah has been able to maintain an army of battle-hardened soldiers numbering in the tens of thousands.
CREDIT: AP
Unlike Hamas, which is fighting Israel in Gaza using mostly improvised projectiles, Hezbollah is well-armed with advanced Iranian missiles, drones, and other weapons.
Meanwhile, Gold Apollo, the Taiwanese company whose brand appears on pagers, said that the devices that exploded were manufactured and sold by BAC, a firm in Budapest, Hungary.
CREDIT: REUTERS
It is widely believed that Israel was able to infiltrate the manufacturing process to implant the explosives in the pagers that were shipped to Lebanon earlier this year.
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