Israel carried out Beirut attack as a diversionary move

TEHRAN,Oct.22 (MNA) -- During a joint press conference with Central African Republic Foreign Minister Antoine Gambi,Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi commented on the car bombing that was carried out in Beirut on October 19, in which eight people, including a senior Lebanese intelligence official, Brigadier General Wissam al-Hassan, were killed and over 100 others were injured. He said, “The Zionist regime is the greatest enemy of the region and regional countries. The UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) that recently was able to penetrate into the occupying regime frightened this regime, and the Zionist regime had put itself in such a situation (in relation to) its people that its weakness and desperateness were quite evident.” Salehi was referring to the fact that Israel shot down an Iranian-made Hezbollah drone on October 6 that had penetrated hundreds of kilometers into Israeli airspace and gotten very close to the Dimona nuclear plant without being detected by advanced Israeli and U.S. radar systems. The Iranian foreign minister added, “They (the Zionists) committed a great crime and martyred and wounded a large number of Lebanese citizens with the aim of diverting people’s attention.” Commenting on relations between Iran and the Central African Republic, he said that it has been agreed that the two countries will hold more consultations and will enhance their cooperation. Salehi also stated that Iran will make every effort to help develop the infrastructure of the African country. And the foreign minister of the Central African Republic expressed hope that relations between the two countries would be expanded in various areas.