• News & Analysis
    • All News & Analysis
    • American Values & Politics
    • Sharia Governance & Values
    • US Hate Groups & Crimes
    • Overseas Extremism
    • US Islamist Activity
    • Fact Sheets & Special Reports
    • Subscribe
  • Intelligence Network
  • Films
  • Activism
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • What We Do
    • Contact Us
Menu
  • News & Analysis
    • All News & Analysis
    • American Values & Politics
    • Sharia Governance & Values
    • US Hate Groups & Crimes
    • Overseas Extremism
    • US Islamist Activity
    • Fact Sheets & Special Reports
    • Subscribe
  • Intelligence Network
  • Films
  • Activism
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • What We Do
    • Contact Us
Search
Close
Donate
Menu
Home Overseas Extremism Overseas Terrorism

Was Hezbollah Connected to the Explosives That Devastated Beirut?

The US Treasury believes that the terror group controls Lebanon's port where the blast occurred

by Meira Svirsky
August 6, 2020
Reading Time: 4min read
A view of buildings in the port in Beirut devastated by the blast (Photo: Daniel Carde/Getty Images)
A view of buildings in the port in Beirut devastated by the blast (Photo: Daniel Carde/Getty Images)

The “official” owner of the chemicals responsible for the massive explosion in the port in Beirut Tuesday evening was Russian businessman Igor Grechushkin, who supposedly pulled into the port with his ship on an unscheduled stop close to seven years ago, went bankrupt and abandoned the cargo.

Yet the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used for fertilizer and making bombs, did not go unnoticed in the Beirut port. Despite warnings of the extreme danger the chemicals posed (the quantity of chemicals was equal to 1,100 bombs of the size made by Timothy McVeigh when he blew up the federal building in Oklahoma in 1995), the chemicals were allowed to be stored at the port with no safety measures in place.

Both the U.S. Treasury and Israel believe that Hezbollah, the Iranian-back Lebanese terror organization, is largely in control of Beirut’s ports, which means that the terror group had a vested interest in keeping such material close at hand.

Robert Baer, a former CIA operative described by CNN as having “extensive experience in the Middle East,” said that while video of the explosion indicated that ammonium nitrate may have been present in the warehouse, the chemical was not responsible for the second massive blast.

Rather Baer thinks that there were military munitions and propellants present and speculated that it could have been a weapons cache. “You look at that orange ball (of fire), and it’s clearly, like I said, a military explosive,” Baer said.

That assessment would be consistent with Hezbollah’s history of stockpiling chemicals and explosives. As reported by The Jerusalem Post,

“Hezbollah kept three metric tons of ammonium nitrate, the explosive thought to be behind the mega blast in Beirut this week, in a storehouse in London, until MI5 and the London Metropolitan Police found it in 2015.

“The Lebanese terrorist group also stored hundreds of kilograms of ammonium nitrate in southern Germany, which were uncovered earlier this year.”

In 2019, the UK banned Hezbollah in its entirety and in April, Germany banned the group.

In February of 2016, Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah was videoed threatening to blow up Israel’s ammonia storage facilities in Haifa. As documented by MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute), Nasrallah  quoted an Israel expert who said that a missile attack on the facility would have the effect of a nuclear bomb.

Watch the video of Nasrallah. The explosion in Beirut can be seen at the end of the video:

Lebanese #Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah explained in a 2016 speech a “nuclear explosion” that could come detonate in #Israel, using a description that matches the #BeirutBlast which shook the capital.https://t.co/Zk8N7zIncv pic.twitter.com/zRjMlTuID3

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) August 5, 2020

At press time, the death toll from the blast had risen to 137 with thousands wounded and more than 300,000 left homeless. Residents 10 kilometers away from the blast reported windows in their buildings blown out. The blast was so powerful it was also felt in Cyprus.

Whether or not the explosion can be traced to Hezbollah, anger at the terror group, which is now also in control of the government, including the country’s military, will most likely intensify to a degree larger than the massive demonstrations against Hezbollah and Iran’s influence over the country that rocked Lebanon less than a year ago.

The explosion also comes at the same time that a verdict is expected to be handed down by a UN special tribunal that has been investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in 2005 by a massive bomb attack by four suspected Hezbollah operatives (who are in hiding).

If the UN finds Hezbollah guilty of Hariri’s death, it will only exacerbate the problems for the terror group in Lebanon and their ability to maintain power over the country.

Meanwhile, a previously bipartisan bill up before Congress to cut millions of dollars in funding for the Lebanese army, which is also controlled by Hezbollah, was just nixed by House Democrats. In addition, amendments to the bill proposed by Republicans that sought to separate the Lebanese forces from Hezbollah were also nixed by House Democrats.

 

Tags: News Analysis
Share1726TweetSendSend

Related Posts

Iranian FM Mohammad Javad Zarif (Photo: ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)
Overseas Terrorism

Iran Establishing New Facts on the Ground to Leverage Biden Administration

January 6, 2021
(Photo: Needpix.com)
Overseas Terrorism

Foreign Funding in Universities: Undermining Democracy & Spreading Antisemitism

November 24, 2020
Turkish and Uyghur protesters hold East Turkestan flags during a protest in Ankara against China's treatment of the Uighur Muslims (Photo: ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Overseas Terrorism

China: How an Authoritarian Regime Exploited the War on Terror

November 23, 2020
Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Saleh (Photo: ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)
Islamist Regimes

Iran Moving Advanced Centrifuges Underground in Violation of Nuclear Deal

November 22, 2020
A section of border wall under constructed on the U.S. side of the border near Tijuana, Mexico in January 2019. Twitter censorship just shut down the account of the Customs and Border Protection's commissioner (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Free Speech

DHS: Twitter Censorship ‘Threat to Security’

November 3, 2020
Armed guards stand outside the St. Augustine Church in Paris amidst escalating Islamist terror in France (Photo: Kiran Ridley/Getty Images)
Overseas Terrorism

Another Beheading in France, More Attacks Amid Escalating Islamist Terror

November 1, 2020

Most Read

From Street Thugs to the High-Brow Salon Circles, the Right to Free Speech Is Increasingly Under Attack

3 months ago

Dark Days for America? Big Tech Wields Cudgel on Conservative Voices

1 week ago

Pakistan: Top Cleric Says Israel Belongs to Jews

3 weeks ago

Islamic State’s (ISIS, ISIL) Horrific Magazine

6 years ago

A Look at What’s Ahead for 2021

2 weeks ago

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

By entering your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

contact us

[email protected]
1-888-610-2221

locate us

2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Suite 395, Washington, DC 20006

follow us

Youtube
Facebook-f
Twitter

News & Analysis

  • American Values & Politics
  • Sharia Governance & Values
  • US Hate Groups & Crimes
  • US Islamist Activity
  • Overseas Extremism
  • Fact Sheets & Special Reports
  • Subscribe

Intelligence Network

  • About Clarion Intel Network
  • Fuqra Files
  • US Extremists Map

Films

  • Iranium
  • Honor Diaries
  • Faithkeepers
  • Kids
  • Short Films

Activism

  • Preventing Violent Extremism
  • Exposing Foreign Funding
  • Our Speakers

about us

  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
  • Advisory Board
  • Partnerships
  • Donate
  • Contact Us
  • Donor Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
© Clarion Project Inc. 2020 — All Rights Reserved
501(c)(3) EIN #20-5845679
Menu
  • News & Analysis
    • All News & Analysis
    • American Values & Politics
    • Sharia Governance & Values
    • US Hate Groups & Crimes
    • Overseas Extremism
    • US Islamist Activity
    • Fact Sheets & Special Reports
    • Subscribe
  • Intelligence Network
  • Films
  • Activism
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • What We Do
    • Contact Us
Search
Donate