Beirut Explosion: Iran sends aid shipment to Lebanon

Iran was sending a shipment of humanitarian aid to Lebanon on Wednesday, following a massive blast in Beirut the previous day that killed 100 people and wounded thousands.

The explosion — hitting with the force of a 3.5-magnitude earthquake — was the biggest ever seen in Beirut, a city blasted by a 1975-1990 civil war, bombarded in conflicts with Israel and hit by periodic terror attacks.

Lebanon's interior minister said it appeared that a large cache of ammonium nitrate in the port had detonated.

The sudden devastation overwhelmed a country already struggling with both the coronavirus pandemic and a severe economic crisis.

The Iranian shipment contained food, medicine, a field hospital and a team of doctors and aid workers, according to Karim Hemmati, head of the country's Red Crescent society.