The Lebanese Daily Star reported on Sunday that one of its journalist on the scene saw men in black shirts with yellow ribbons around their arms shoving protesters away from the site as they exited buses some 200 meters from the embassy complex.
The protesters barely had time to raise their banners before they were beaten up, and several were injured with sticks, he said.
Several of the men in black shirts then opened fire in the air to disperse the demonstrators. They fired over two dozen shots.
In a statement, the Lebanese Army said a citizen was killed as a result of a fight outside the embassy.
“Upon the arrival of a convoy belonging to a political aide in Bir Hassan for a protest outside the Iranian Embassy over the ongoing events in Syria, a fight broke out between members of the convoy and some citizens during which one of the individuals opened fire using a pistol that led to the serious wounding of a citizen, who later died,” the military said.
The protest had been planned and organized by the Lebanese Option Gathering, and the party’s founder, Ahmad al-Asaad, identified the fatality as Hashem Salman, who headed the party’s student committee.
The National Liberal Party’s student wing released a statement shortly after condemning the incident outside the Iranian embassy and announcing their solidarity with the group which is a predominantly Shiite anti-Hezbollah party.
The National Liberal Party, known as the Ahrar, was at the time of the clashes taking part in an unrelated event in downtown Beirut that was also protesting Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria.
“What we did in Martyrs’ Square is just the beginning of our march in facing Hezbollah, which seeks hegemony over the state by dragging the flame of war in Syria into Lebanon,” the statement said.
