TEHRAN - Lebanese political researcher Ali Mourad says the Israeli regime and the U.S. are the main beneficiaries of the deadly huge explosion that happened in Beirut on Tuesday afternoon.

“The beneficiaries of this tragedy are the Israelis and the Americans in the first place,” Mourad tells the Tehran Times.
On the whys and whats of the blast, the researcher says, “What is for sure is that there is negligence and recklessness of the officials at the port and the judicial body since the Ammonia shipment was kept in a chamber in the port for 7 years without removing it from there.”

Following is the text of the interview:

Q: What may be the causes of the huge explosion that ripped through Lebanon's capital, Beirut?

A: We are still at an early stage of the investigation of what really happened at the Beirut Port. The government has declared Beirut as a devastated city and the army and the security agencies will be in charge of the city, after declaring the state of emergency. There are a lot of scenarios to explain what happened, and all of them might be considerable. What is for sure is that there is negligence and recklessness of the officials at the port and the judicial body since the Ammonia shipment was kept in a chamber in the port for 7 years without removing it from there. The question here is: Did somebody ignite a detonating factor purposefully inside the chamber or it happened accidentally? The answer should be addressed by the investigation committee

Q: Who will seek to take advantage of the tragedy?

A: The beneficiaries of this tragedy are the Israelis and the Americans in the first place. The behavior of the American bloc inside Lebanon right after the incident was suspicious. Some U.S.-aligned politicians and media characters immediately pointed at the resistance and Hezbollah in an attempt to create an accusation supported by a Saudi media coverage that tried to promote such a false and unrealistic accusation. There is a gruesome attempt by some inside Lebanon to invest politically against their political rivals, which sends to the whole world a bad message and proves that there were bad intentions right before the accident, linked to the so-called Lebanon Special Tribunal court decision.

Q: Do you think the latest development in Lebanon, especially the resignation of foreign minister are related to the explosion?

A: The latest developments in Lebanon prove that Washington decided to create a state of chaos in Lebanon, and all politicians who are controlled by the Americans are expressing this with their behaviors recently. Of course, when we are talking about chaos in Lebanon that means escalation of security levels alongside the political level which been taking place since months ago.

Q: What will be Hezbollah's reaction to the explosion?

A: I think Hezbollah will behave responsibly, as usual, and for sure the leadership of the resistance will act on the basis of protecting Lebanon from external dangers as they’ve always done. Responsible speech can be read in the statement of Hezbollah issued after the incident took place, and all the Hezbollah emergency response teams and medics were rushed into the devastated area right after the explosion. On the political level, Hezbollah knows for sure that every such incident would be used for cheap political investment by its local foes but the strategy has been to contain those aggressive moves politically and concentrate on countering the external threats imposed by the U.S. and the Zionist entity.