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Paris – France has denied allegations made by the United States that the Lebanese Hezbollah has stored chemicals it assigns to make explosives in hiding places in Europe since 2012, and the French Foreign Ministry said, on Friday, September 18, 2020, that there are evidence of what Washington has announced.
“As far as we know, there is nothing concrete to confirm such a claim in France today,” French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Mol told reporters in response to Sells.
“The French authorities will impose the most severe penalties for any illegal activity carried out by any foreign group on our soil,” he added.
On Thursday, Nathan Sales, the State Department’s counterterrorism coordinator, said the Iran-backed group is smuggling and stockpiling chemicals, including ammonium nitrate, from Belgium to France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
“(The armed wing) is storing these weapons in places so that it can carry out major terrorist attacks when it deems it necessary for its masters in Tehran,” Sales said.
“As we all witnessed in the Beirut port explosion, ammonium nitrate is a very dangerous substance,” he said.
Sells added that the chemicals were smuggled into Europe in first aid kits and would likely be found in Spain, Greece and Italy.
As for whether the United States is establishing a link between the explosion and Hezbollah, which Washington considers a terrorist organization, Sales did not give a direct answer, but did not rule out this hypothesis.
“This is what we know. We know that Hizbullah has stored huge amounts of ammonium nitrate in Europe,” he said.
“We also know from what we saw in Beirut, the great destructive power of ammonium nitrate, which is capable of causing massive damage if used as an explosive,” he added.
“Therefore, the United States is calling for a full, open, transparent and in-depth investigation into the Beirut bombing, and we hope to see its results quickly,” he said.
The Beirut port explosion on August 4 killed 191 people and destroyed parts of the capital.
Lebanese authorities confirmed that the massive explosion was caused by a shipment of ammonium nitrate, which had been stored in a terminal block for more than six years “without preventive measures”, after it was seized while being transported by a cargo ship that He left Georgia for Mozambique.
Ammonium nitrate is an industrial chemical commonly used in the manufacture of fertilizers and as an explosive in quarries and mining. They are considered relatively safe if they are free from contaminants and stored properly.
The material is very dangerous if it is exposed to contamination, mixed with fuel or stored in an unsafe way, as happened in the port of Beirut in August when 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded, destroying the port and killing 190 people, and causing thousands millions of dollars in damages.
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion.
Unlike the United States, which has classified Hezbollah as a terrorist organization since 1997, France says its chosen wing has a legitimate political role.
France is leading efforts to put Lebanon on a new path after decades of corruption that led to the country’s deepest crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
Allies of Paris, Germany and Britain also classify the group as a terrorist organization, but French officials say the group’s ostracism would make it impossible to resolve the crisis.
On Thursday, the United States imposed sanctions on an official of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group, designated a terrorist group by Washington, and two companies in Lebanon, which is suffering an economic crisis.
The US Treasury said those targeted were linked to the heavily armed and politically influential Shiite group.
“The company is surprised that the US administration accuses the company of corruption and enriches some people at the expense of the Lebanese people,” said Arch Consulting, one of two companies blacklisted by the US Treasury.
Lebanon’s economy is collapsing after the country racked up a mountain of debt after the 1975-1990 civil war. The country’s banks are paralyzed and its currency has collapsed and defaulted on sovereign debt.
