The US administration of President Joe Biden said it "rejects" Hezbollah's attempts to "threaten" and "intimidate" the Lebanese judiciary, accusing the pro-Iranian party of threatening Lebanon's security and stability.
The US administration stressed that consultations are ongoing with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and France in order to provide the Lebanese with humanitarian aid.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price affirmed that the international community had numerously urged the Lebanese authorities to “complete a prompt and transparent investigation into the horrific explosion in the port of Beirut.”
Commenting on the pressures Judge Tareq Bitar is facing by Hezbollah and its affiliates, Price said: “We reject intimidation of any country’s judiciary and we support Lebanon’s judicial independence.
Judges must be free from threats and intimidation, including Hezbollah’s. We’ve long been clear that Hezbollah's terrorist and illicit activities threaten Lebanon’s security, stability and sovereignty.”
He stressed that Hezbollah "is more concerned with its own interests and those of its patron, Iran, than in the best interests of the Lebanese people."
He added that the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, visits Lebanon “to continue the important discussions that we have been having bilaterally with Lebanese authorities, including with our Saudi partners, with our French partners, to see to it that the people of Lebanon can take advantage of the humanitarian relief that they so desperately need.”
He also noted that US officials "support the formation of a stable and inclusive government that meets the needs of the Lebanese people."
He concluded saying that "the victims of the August 2020 port explosion deserve justice. They deserve accountability.”
