Iran envoy to Lebanon lost eye in pager explosion, second eye severely injured – NYT

Mojtaba Amani, the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, lost one eye and his other was seriously wounded when a pager he was carrying exploded yesterday, The New York Times reports.

Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps tell the outlet that Amani’s injuries are more serious than initially reported, and he would be taken to Tehran for treatment.

Video on social media apparently showed Amani on a Lebanese street in the aftermath of the attack, with blood on the front of his shirt, the newspaper says.

The Saudi-owned Alhadath news channel, quoting Tehran’s embassy in Beirut, said yesterday that Amani was in “good general condition” and his injuries were only superficial.

At least nine people were killed and thousands were injured when pagers held by Hezbollah members across Lebanon exploded yesterday afternoon, in what appeared to be a widescale, coordinated attack attributed to Israel against the Iran-backed terror group.