Iran Press/ commentary: The August 4, 2020 explosion in the port of Beirut killed about 200 people and injured more than 6,000. Fourteen months after the bombing in Beirut, Lebanese rallied on Thursday to protest the actions of Judge Tarek Bitar.
The Lebanese people accused Tarek Bitar of politicization and protesting his actions. Hezbollah, the Amal movement, and the Marada movement called on their supporters to hold a rally for the judge being ousted.
The judge has indicted some prominent leaders of Hezbollah and the Amal movement for the blast. MPs and ministers affiliated with Hezbollah and the Amal movement have stressed that Judge Bitar has politicized the issue in favor of the United States and is backed by the US embassy.
During the demonstrations, snipers whom Hezbollah and Amal groups are stressing that they are affiliated with Samir Geagea Party's groups opened fire on protesters, killing eight people and wounding over 60 others.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun described the crime as directed by some of the country's political currents and termed it as hostage-taking. "We will not allow what happened to happen again and we will never allow anyone to take the country hostage for their own interests, " Michel Aoun said.
There is a connection between this crime in Beirut and the internal developments in Lebanon. The crime took place as Lebanese Hezbollah imported fuel from Iran to counter the country's fuel crisis.
Iran condemns recent Beirut shooting
Importing fuel from Iran ever since the idea was put forward by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has been opposed by the opposition inside Lebanon and they sought to neutralize the positive effects of this initiative.
"Lebanon has been in turmoil for some time," said Ahmad Dastmalchian, a West Asian affairs expert, referring to the shooting of unknown gunmen at a peaceful Lebanese demonstration in Beirut. "Most of these riots are orchestrated by the opposition forces against the Hezbollah. Together with foreign powers, especially those influential in West Asia, they do not want Lebanon to be calm and have a strong and stable government. The goal is to make the people despaired and create a gap between them and the Resistance."
Another issue is that monitoring the movements of the US ambassador in Beirut shows that the US embassy is behind the unrest in Lebanon. The US ambassador has had suspicious meetings with some Lebanese figures, including the judge in charge of the Beirut bombing.
Tarek Bitar, the judge in charge of the August 4 bombing, had a two-hour meeting with US Ambassador to Beirut Dorothy Shea, while he is an internal judicial official. The meeting was followed by the arrest of two members of the March 8 coalition, Ali Hassan Khalil, former finance minister, and Ghazi Zaitar, a current member of the Lebanese parliament.
In order to prevent the strengthening of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the United States is trying to pursue leveling accusations against this movement through some internal agents and orchestrating the unrest, as well as to keep the government weak.
By: Seyyed Razi Emadi
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