An Al Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings that struck outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut today, killing 23 people including an Iranian diplomat.

The obscure Abdullah Azzam Brigades said it carried out the mid-morning bombings in a Hezbollah stronghold – the latest strike in battles that have played out in the region for decades and now intensified with the civil war next door in Syria.

The authenticity of the claim could not be independently verified but it was posted on a militant website and on the Twitter account of Sirajuddin Zurayqat, a prominent Islamic militant leader.

The group said it will continue with such attacks until the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group withdraws its forces from Syria, where the group is fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces against the mostly Sunni rebels seeking to topple him.

An unidentified Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman blamed Israel for the attacks while Hezbollah and Syrian officials indirectly blamed Saudi Arabia.