Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amini, lost one eye and severely injured his other eye when a pager he was carrying exploded in a simultaneous wave of blasts targeting wireless electronic devices, according to two members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps briefed on the attack.
The Guards members, who had knowledge of the attacks and spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said Mr. Amini’s injuries were more serious than Iran initially reported and that he would be medevacked to Tehran for treatment.
Hossein Soleimani, the editor in chief of Mashregh, the main Revolutionary Guards news website, confirmed the extent of Mr. Amini’s injuries in a post on X. “Unfortunately the injuries sustained by Iran’s ambassador were extremely severe and in his eyes,” Mr. Soleimani wrote.
A video of Mr. Amini being transported to the hospital, published by Iranian news media outlets, shows him on a chaotic Beirut street with his eyes covered by bandages and the front of his white shirt covered in blood.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, condemned the attack in a call with Lebanon’s foreign minister and said Iran was ready to medevac the ambassador and other injured people to Iran for medical treatment if needed, according to a statement released by his office. He spoke to Mr. Amini’s wife in Beirut and wished the ambassador a speedy recovery, the statement said.
The attacks appeared to mostly target members of Hezbollah, a political and militia group backed and supported by Iran. Hezbollah and Israel have engaged in intense clashes across their borders since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel last year. Hezbollah accused Israel, which did not comment, of responsibility for the blasts.
Narges Ghadirian, the ambassador’s wife, said in a post on X earlier on Tuesday that her husband “is slightly injured but thank God he is all right and the danger has passed.”
Iranian media reported that two of the ambassador’s bodyguards were also injured because they were carrying pagers that exploded. Tasnim News agency, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, said similar devices also exploded in Syria.
One of the Guards members said the pagers, including the one used by the ambassador, beeped for about 10 seconds before exploding, prompting some victims to hold the devices close to their eyes and faces to check for a message. The two Guards members said the pagers were used only by Hezbollah members and operatives and not widely distrusted among ordinary citizens.
Iran appoints its ambassadors in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen — allied countries that are known regionally as the “axis of resistance’— from the senior ranks of the Revolutionary Guards because they also serve as liaisons with militant groups backed by Iran.
The news of the explosions rattled many Iranian supporters of the government who took to social media to express what they feared was Israel’s ability to cause widespread harm remotely. They also said the explosions had outed Hezbollah members, whose identities are typically secret, because video footage of the blasts and their aftermath went viral and victims were seen being injured and seeking medical treatment at hospitals.
A former vice president of Iran, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, called the means of attack “a new phase in technological warfare replacing conventional war” on Telegram. Mr. Abtahi, a politician from the reformist faction, was stationed in Lebanon in the 1980s.
Israel has carried out a series of covert operations in Iran as part of the shadow war between the two countries. Israel assassinated Iran’s top nuclear scientist and deputy defense minister, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, in 2020 using an A.I.-assisted robot controlled remotely via satellite. In February, Israel blew up two major gas pipelines in Iran, disrupting service to several cities, and, in 2021, an Israeli hack of Iran’s oil ministry servers disrupted gasoline distribution nationwide.
Tensions are already high between Iran and Israel after the assassination of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran in July. Iran pledged to retaliate against Israel but so far has refrained from doing so after diplomatic efforts warned Tehran that responding risked an Israeli retaliation and wider war.
Some conservative Iranian pundits on Tuesday called on the government to act on its pledge of retaliation against Israel, saying not doing so could embolden Israel to carry out more strikes.
Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesman, told reporters, “we would urge Iran not to take advantage of any incident, any instability, to try to add further instability and to further increase tensions in the region.”
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