US Denies Involvement in Hezbollah Pager Blasts in Advance, Urges Restraint from Iran
The US on Tuesday dismissed reports that it was involved in the latest blasts targeting pagers used by Hezbollah in Lebanon operations that caused many deaths. At the same time, it has urged Iran to avoid escalation of the situation in the region.
Recall that State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated during the reporters’ briefing that the US had prior information about the blasts. ‘The US was not involved in it, the US was not aware of this incident in advance, and we are gathering information,’ he added.
Even though many believe that it was Israel that has been engaging in an exchange with Hezbollah since the October 7 attacks from Hamas, Miller demurred from stating outright that Israel might have been involved.
The explosions occurred after grueling days of immense diplomacy by the United States in a bid to deter Iran from seeking revenge on Israel for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran. Miller once again reinforced the fact that the U. S. policy in regards to Iran has not changed and hoped that the country will not exacerbate the situation in the Middle East anymore.
’However, it would be dangerous to have a situation where Iran, for example, used some incident to add further instability and increase tensions,’ he stressed.
US mediator Amos Hochstein has recently met with the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and other ministers of the Israeli government’s ongoing to prevent an all-out war of the Israeli state with Hezbollah.
The US remains an interested party in the conflict but supports a diplomatic settlement of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Miller noted that the diplomacy aims for the displaced citizenry in both Israel and Lebanon to be relocated safely, although such words did not verify the involvement of Israel. Miller also highlighted that Hezbollah, being a terrorist Group, as per the U.S. definition, is a legal target of militancy. ”Terrorist individuals of a terrorist group are legal subjects of countries to strike at,” he said.
On Monday, a reformist Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian, called for better relations between Iran and the US and reinstatement of the 2015 nuclear deal. ‘If America respects our rights, we do not wish to fight with them,’ Pezeshkian said at a news conference.
Miller said, however, that the U. S. has always had ‘great fondness’ for the people of Iran and would measure Iran’s current regime to its word, not to its deed. In particular, he listed the most critical issues, such as Iranian backing for terrorists, Iran’s nuclear program, and Iran’s rights situation.
‘The way to express brotherhood would not be through warm words,’ Miller summed up his statement. ‘It would be to stop providing weapons and support to terrorism, nuclear bomb threats, and cease trying to suppress civil liberties of its citizens.’
The situation remains even more volatile as the U. S remains engaged in a diplomatic push for the prevention of escalation of a more significant conflict in the Middle East.
