By Iyad Nabolsi
ISTANBUL (AA) - Four Lebanese ministers and sixteen foreign ambassadors on Monday visited Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport following recent British media claims about Iranian weapons storage on the premises.
The Lebanese National News Agency reported that the visit commenced at the airport's cargo center and continued at the air freight facility.
On an invitation by Lebanese Public Works and Transport Minister Ali Hamie, the visit included Information Minister Ziad Baroud, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, and Tourism Minister Walid Nassar.
It also included ambassadors from the EU, Germany, Egypt, India, Pakistan, China, Japan, South Korea, Cuba, Romania, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Spain, Algeria, and Nigeria, according to the agency.
On Sunday, Hamie said Lebanon will file a lawsuit against the British daily The Telegraph over an article alleging that Iranian weapons and missiles were being stored at the airport.
The Telegraph, citing airport whistleblowers, said on Sunday that Hezbollah was storing huge quantities of Iranian weapons, missiles, and explosives at the airport.
Early Sunday, the Lebanese Air Transport Union called the British media report “lies” and accused the newspaper of endangering airport workers and passengers.
No immediate reaction was available from the daily as of yet.
The media report was published at a time when tensions were rising along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 37,600 people since last Oct. 7.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio