TEHRAN -- An attempt by the Israeli regime to assassinate Iranian Health Minister Masoud Pezeshkian and his political entourage near the Shebaa Farms in Southern Lebanon was foiled, the daily ***Al-Watan ***reported on Wednesday, quoting Hizbollah sources.

Lebanese sources told the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that Lebanese police specialized in bomb detection discovered and defused the 80-kilogram bomb before the arrival of the Iranian minister in the region.

Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad-Ali Sobhani, a number of Iranian Embassy staff and the Chairman of the Hizbollah in Southern Lebanon, Sheikh Nabil, were accompanying the minister at the time of the discovery of the bomb.

The bomb was detonated by the Lebanese Army, which happened to be just 500 meters away from the scene of the intended assassination believed to have been plotted by the Zionist regime. It was defused before the arrival of the automobile carrying the Iranian minister from a visit to an area near the Shebaa Farms.