'23 dead' in Beirut embassy blast

The US has condemned a suicide bombing that killed at least 23 people near an Iranian embassy compound in Beirut.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said at a briefing: "We call on all parties to exercise calm and restraint to avoid inflaming the situation further."

"Acts of terror only reinforce our determination to work with the institutions of the Lebanese state."

But he added that it was too soon to say who was responsible for the attack.

Forensic experts have been inspecting the sites of two suicide bombings which killed at least 23 people and wounded 146 near the Iranian embassy in Beirut.

Lebanese officials said CCTV footage showed a man in an explosives belt rushing towards the outer wall of the embassy before blowing himself up.

The second, larger explosion was the result of a car bomb, although the Lebanese army said it is treating both blasts as suicide attacks.

Foreign Secretary William Hague has condemned what he describes as a "shocking terrorist attack" after at least 23 people were killed following blasts near the Iranian Embassy in Beirut.

A Lebanon-based al-Qaeda affiliate has claimed responsibility for the double suicide attack on the Iranian embassy which killed 23 people, according to the Twitter page of a cleric linked to the group.

"The Abdullah Azzam brigades - the Hussein bin Ali cells - may they please God - are behind the attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut," Sheikh Sirajeddine Zuraiqat, the group's religious guide, posted on Twitter.

The group threatened to carry out further attacks until Iran pulled its forces out of Syria and their prisoners were released from Lebanese jails.

Read: Iranian cultural diplomat among 23 killed in blasts

Footage from security cameras has shown a man rushing towards the outer wall of the Iranian embassy before causing the first explosion in the area, Lebanese officials have told Reuters.

The second explosion was caused by a car bomb parked two buildings away from the embassy, officials said.

Twenty-three people have been killed in the two blasts including the Iranian cultural attache.

Read: 'Huge damage' after Beirut explosions

The Iranian cultural attache is among the 23 people who have been killed after two explosions near the Iranian embassy in Beirut.

A Lebanese official told Reuters that Ebrahim Ansari was killed in the explosions.

Health minister Ali Hassan Khalil said the blasts had also wounded 146 people.

Twenty-three people have been killed following two explosions near the Iranian embassy in Beirut, Reuters have reported.

A witness at the scene said he saw body parts scattered around the blast site.

"At one entrance of the Iranian embassy I counted six bodies outside. I saw body parts around and thrown two streets away," Reuters television cameraman Issam Abdullah said from the scene.

"There is huge damage, it looks like it is a car bomb. One car is twisted there. There were two Mercedes cars badly damaged," he added.

At least 23 people have been killed and 146 wounded following blasts near the Iranian embassy in Beirut, according to the Lebanese health minister.

Debris was scattered across the street and cars were on fire as people ran away from the chaotic scene.

Read: Scene of blast near Iranian embassy in Beirut

Eighteen people have now died after explosions near the Iranian embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, a senior medical source has told Reuters.

The explosions, which also wounded dozens, damaged several buildings around the embassy compound.

Read: Scene of blast near Iranian embassy in Beirut

Seven people have been killed by two explosions near the Iranian embassy in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

At least six buildings have been damaged in the embassy compound, Reuters reported.

Soldiers, policemen and medical personnel gathered at the blast site.

Read: 'At least seven killed' after Beirut car bomb blast