PHOTO- At least 117 Iranians, including some diplomats, were evacuated from Beirut overnight on a Russian plane, a Lebanese official told AFP on Sunday.
At least 117 Iranian nationals evacuated on Saturday from Beirut to Moscow on a Russia-supplied plane, according to two Lebanese officials, after Israel conducted strikes near the Iranian embassy over the past week and warned Iranian government officials in Lebanon to leave the country “immediately before they are targeted.”
It also came after the Lebanese government announced it intended to arrest and deport any members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or I.R.G.C., involved in military activities in Lebanon. Members of the I.R.G.C. have long acted as military advisors to Hezbollah, and analysts say they have been managing the group’s military wing more directly since Hezbollah’s last escalation with Israel.
This development comes after an Israel strike targeted IRGC – Quds commanders who were hiding at the Ramada Hoel in Beirut on Saturday .
At least four people were killed the Israeli strike . Ten people were also injured in the strike the health ministry said in a statement on Saturday
Israel said it targeted key commanders of Iran’s elite Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards but did not name them.
Several dozen Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) officers have fled Beirut on March 6 fearing they will be targeted, two senior Israeli defense officials and a third source with knowledge of the situation told Axios
The Iranian officers were mostly members of the elite Quds Force, working as military advisers to Hezbollah with significant influence over the group’s operations
