‘Exploding pagers were purchased by Hezbollah,’ injured Iranian ambassador admits

Hezbollah purchased the devices in the pager detonation incident in the first place, admitted the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, who himself was wounded in the event.

During an interview with Islamic Republic outlet ISNA, Mojtaba Amani alleged that the pagers were not used for military purposes, accusing that their detonation constituted a war crime. He also testified that prior to the detonation, a “special beep” sounded and then a message appeared that read, “You have an important message,” triggering the detonation upon pushing a button to read it.

This confession comes following months of pro-Hezbollah outlets claiming that the pagers were not limited to Hezbollah members alone, despite Hezbollah themselves admitting that they were held by their members in the days following the incident.

Attempting to explain Hezbollah’s necessity for the pagers, Amani accused that Lebanon is “not a very strong country,” adding that it “does not have a president, and the prime minister is temporary.”

According to Amani, these facts led to Hezbollah’s purchasing of the pagers in an attempt to provide warnings from Israeli air raids. He also noted that since the incident, pagers are not being used, and Hezbollah members warn each other by shooting into the air.

Amani did not provide any context for his own holding of such a communications device, purchased and used by the terrorist organization.

‘His injuries are proof of terrorist's activity’

Amani appeared in public earlier this week for the first time since his injury during the pager attack. He could be seen with injuries to his face around the eyes and his hands, with pro-Islamic Republic X/Twitter accounts cheering him and adding commending quotes such as, “In memory of all those who gave their eyes to Iran.”

Other supporting posts quoted Amani as saying: “This injury is an honor for me because I was with the oppressed Lebanese people in this war crime.”

However, others saw in Amani’s injury proof of his involvement with Hezbollah’s pro-Iranian and anti-Lebanese endeavors.

Ghassan Bou Diab, a Lebanese-born peace activist who opposes Hezbollah, wrote on his X account:

“After it was proven that the Mullah’s ambassador was injured in the pager explosion, which necessarily means that he was involved in terrorist and criminal acts that threaten Lebanese national security and cause huge losses in Lebanon and undermine its inner stability – this should strip him of any diplomatic immunity. It is the right of the Lebanese and the duty of the foreign minister to expel the terrorist Mujtaba Amani and shut down the den of conspiracies called ‘the Iranian Embassy.’

“Once the new administration takes over, we will file a lawsuit before the American courts and demand the confiscation of the assets and properties of the Iranian mullahs to pay compensation to the Lebanese whose homes were destroyed by the terrorist militias, the IRGC and Ali Khamenei!”

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly claimed responsibility for the pager attack for the first time, accusing other cabinet members of opposing it.

The attack, which was reportedly considered to be activated in the first days following the October 7 massacre but was then postponed, led to the injury of an estimated 4,000 Hezbollah members and the death of at least 59, according to different reports.