'Not aware in advance' & 'not involved', says US State Department after series of pager explosion strikes Lebanon

Washington, Sep 18 (IANS) The US was "not involved" in the series of pager explosions in Lebanon and was "not aware" of any attack in advance, said a State Department spokesperson.
 

"The US was not aware of this incident in advance, and at this point, we're gathering information," said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who repeatedly referred to the matter as an "incident" not an "attack".

Miller did not say what information the US has so far, and would not say whether the US assesses that Israel is responsible or not.

Hezbollah and Lebanon have both blamed Israel for the attack, which injured about 2,800 people and killed at least nine people, according to the Lebanese Health Minister. The Israel Defense Forces did not comment.

"I don't have any assessment to offer one way or other at this point," said Miller.

Miller would not say if the US would make its own assessment, but said it was "gathering information through all of the ways in which we usually gather information".

"We're gathering information through diplomatic channels as well as other channels about this incident," he said, but would not say if the US has had conversations with Israeli or Lebanese officials.

"I don't want to prejudge what we'll say in the days to come," the State Department Spokesperson said.

Asked if there were indications that Iran could retaliate, given reports that the Iranian ambassador was injured, Miller said he did not want to speculate until those reports were confirmed.

"I've seen the reports. I don't want to speak to what the implications might be before a report is confirmed. But certainly, as is always the case, we would urge Iran not to take advantage of any incident, any instability, to try to add further instability and to further increase tensions in the region. That has been our message to Iran since October 7," he said.

Miller also reiterated that the US believes there needs to be a diplomatic solution to the conflict in northern Israel with Hezbollah, and that it is important for Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire in order to make a diplomatic resolution in the north easier.

He said it is "very, very difficult to get a diplomatic resolution in the north absent a resolution to the conflict in Gaza, absent a ceasefire in Gaza, which is why we continue to push for that ceasefire, because we think it'll help make it much easier to reach a resolution".

Miller did not say how the US views this attack affecting the ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.

The US continues to believe that there needs to be a diplomatic solution to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, White House Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah promised to retaliate after blaming Israel for detonating pagers on Tuesday that killed at least nine people and wounded 2,750 others, including many of the militant group’s fighters and Iran’s envoy to Beirut.

“So we continue, we continue to believe that there … should be a diplomatic resolution to this,” Jean-Pierre said.

--IANS

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