1984 US embassy bombing in Beirut

Hezbollah attack on the US embassy in Beirut, Lebanon June 2026 April 2023 1984 United States embassy annex bombing US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon (Muslim West side) in September, 1984 Photo by Nancy Wong.tif The attack aftermath Beirut, Lebanon 1984 9 20 11:44 am the Lebanese Civil War Suicide van bomb 1360 kg lb explosive laden van 23 (+1 bomber) 90 Hezbollah, Islamic Republic of Iran On September 20, 1984, the Shi'a Islamic militant group Hezbollah, with support and direction from the Islamic Republic of Iran, carried out a suicide car bombing targeting the US embassy annex in East Beirut, Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War. The attack killed 23 people and 1 attacker. Hezbollah had also used suicide car or truck bombs in the April 1983 US embassy bombing and the October 1983 Beirut barracks bombings. Bombing In July 1984, the United States had relocated its embassy operations from West Beirut to the relative security of Aukar, a Christian suburb of East Beirut.24 September 1984 Neighbors of Embassy Say They're in Danger https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/24/world/neighbors-of-embassy-say-they-re-in-danger.html The New York Times When on September 20, 1984, the attacker sped his van laden with 3,000 pounds (1360 kg) of explosives toward the six-story embassy, crucial security measures had not yet been completed at the complex, including a massive steel gate. The van was heading for the entrance of the diplomatic facility, but did not get within ten yards of the building after the driver was shot by a bodyguard of the British ambassador and Lebanese embassy guards and lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle detonated at 11:44 a.m. after striking a parked van.Wright Robin 2001 Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam Simon and Schuster https://archive.org/details/sacredragewratho00wrig_0 registration sacred rage. 106–108 9780743233422 The explosion "ripped off the front of the embassy, shredding glass, bending steel bars and destroying cars in a nearby parking lot." The attack killed a total of 23 people (+1 suicide bomber). Only two of the dead were American: Chief Warrant Officer Kenneth V. Welch of the US Army and Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Ray Wagner of the US Navy, who were both assigned to the US Defense Attache Office in Beirut. The majority of those killed were Lebanese, "either local employees or people seeking visas". Of the injured, the US ambassador, Reginald Bartholomew, was slightly hurt, as well as the British ambassador, David Miers, who was meeting with Bartholomew at the time of explosion.21 September 1984 23 Die, Including 2 Americans, in Terrorist Car Bomb Attack on the US embassy at Beirut https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/21/world/23-die-including-2-americans-terrorist-car-bomb-attack-us-embassy-beirut-blast.html?pagewanted=all The New York Times Responsibility The Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO) claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call a few hours after the explosion. The caller said, "The operation goes to prove that we will carry out our previous promise not to allow a single American to remain on Lebanese soil." The US government understood that Hezbollah had carried out the attack under the cover name of IJO with the support of Iran.Levitt Matthew 2013 Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God https://books.google.com/books?id=6WarAAAAQBAJ&q=hezbollah%20matthew%20levitt&pg=PA23 23 Georgetown University Press 9781626160132 Through satellite reconnaissance, US intelligence discovered that a mock-up of the annex had been created at the Iranian Revolutionary Guard-run Sheikh Abdullah barracks in Baalbek to practice for the attack.Crist David 2012 The Twilight War: The Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran https://books.google.com/books?id=V0G9f35dK6AC&q=1984%20annex%20iran&pg=PT131 151–152 Penguin 9781101572344 Willis David 2004 The First War on Terrorism: Counter-terrorism Policy during the Reagan Administration https://books.google.com/books?id=0ckzAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA84 84–85 Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 9781417503612 Legal cases Under the amended Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, victims of the bombing and their families have filed cases against the Islamic Republic of Iran, holding it responsible for its role in the attack and demanding compensation. Estate of Doe, et al. v Republic of Iran, et al. (2013) – 58 foreign national employees and one American employee that were killed or injured in the 1983 embassy bombing and 1984 embassy annex bombing are awarded $8.4 billion. The judge ruled "that the attacks were carried out by the terrorist group Islamic Jihad, known most commonly as Hezbollah, operating with Iranian support and encouragement."https://www.crowell.com/Practices/International-Dispute-Resolution/International-Terrorism-Litigation/representative-engagements https://web.archive.org/web/20200925192749/https://www.crowell.com/Practices/International-Dispute-Resolution/International-Terrorism-Litigation/representative-engagements dead September 25, 2020 Representative Engagements Crowell & Moring Brewer v. Islamic Republic of Iran (2009) – Security guard Richard Brewer and his family are awarded $310 million in damages. Brewer was injured in the bombing. The judge ruled "Hezbollah received substantial funds and support from Iran via its Ministry of Information and Security and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. This court concludes that defendants provided 'material support and resources' to Hezbollah."16 October 2009 Iran Ordered to Pay $310 Million to U.S. Embassy Bombing Victim https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=awtl7EXPYdxo Bloomberg Reactions United States: The U.S. Navy dispatched the USS Shreveport (LPD-12), which had just completed a minesweeping mission in the Suez Canal and was diverted toward Beirut to assist in rescue operations.1984-09-21 Bomb Kills 23 at U.S. Embassy in Lebanon https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/09/21/bomb-kills-23-at-us-embassy-in-lebanon/a56a0e19-a188-46ee-af9b-6632f688e780/ 2026-04-18 The Washington Post en-US 0190-8286 Israel offered its assistance to the United States, and Rambam Hospital in Haifa prepared to receive American casualties – the emergency department was cleared, the computerized patient registration system was converted to English, wards were placed on high alert, and both Israel Police and Military Police Corps forces were deployed to the hospital. Additionally, foreign television crews prepared for the arrival of American evacuees, but they did not arrive after U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger informed Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin that assistance was not required. Weinberger thanked Rabin for the gesture.Shimron Arie 21 September 1984 האמריקאים לא הגיעו לרמב"ם The Americans did not get to Rambam https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/hadashot/1984/09/21/01/article/27?&dliv=none&e=-------he-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxTI--------------1&utm_source=he.wikipedia.org&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=%22%D7%94%D7%A4%D7%99%D7%92%D7%95%D7%A2+%D7%91%D7%A9%D7%92%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA+%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%AA+%D7%94%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%AA+%D7%91%D7%91%D7%99%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA+%281984%29%22&utm_content=itonut live Hadashot See also Attacks on the United States List of extrajudicial killings and political violence in Lebanon List of Islamist terrorist attacks References United States embassy, 1984 Beirut, 1984 Category:1984 in international relations Category:1980s crimes in Beirut Category:1984 murders in Lebanon Category:1984 building bombings Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in the 1980s Category:Lebanon–United States relations Category:Massacres in 1984 Category:Mass murders in Beirut Category:Massacres in the Lebanese Civil War Category:September 1984 in Asia Category:Suicide bombings in Beirut Category:Suicide bombings in 1984 Category:Suicide car and truck bombings in Lebanon Category:Terrorist incidents in Lebanon in 1984 Category:Building bombings in Beirut Category:Hezbollah attacks Category:Beirut in the Lebanese Civil War Category:Car and truck bombings in the 1980s