Beirut bomb attacks are 'alarm for all of us': Iran

ROME (AFP) - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said deadly bomb attacks against Iran's embassy in Beirut on Tuesday should be "an alarm for all of us".

"The tragedy today... should be an alarm for all of us that we need to deal with and unless we deal with it seriously, it will engulf all of us," Mr Zarif said after talks with his Italian counterpart Emma Bonino in Rome.

Asked about the blame laid on Israel by his ministry, he said: "We have reason to be suspicious of every move they make. Every move they make is about spreading tension and mistrust."

He said the attack was a symptom of the "extremism" spreading in the Middle East, particularly from Syria.

"There is every reason to be concerned about it. Extremism cannot be contained in any single country," he said.

"It's a very serious problem. Once we see a flare-up of the tension that is boiling in Syria there will hardly a possibility of stopping it at the Syrian border, or even in the Middle East," he said.

At least 23 people, including an Iranian national, died on Tuesday when two suicide bombers set off successive blasts at the Iranian embassy in southern Beirut. Nearly 150 people were wounded.

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