03:25US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller claimed Washington was 'not involved' and 'not aware' in advance, following mass pager explosions across Lebanon, during a press briefing in DC on Tuesday.
"I can tell you that the US was not involved in it; the US was not aware of this incident in advance. And at this point, we are gathering information," he stated.
Asked 'what information' had been 'gathered so far', Miller replied: "we'll continue to collect information. I don't have any public readout to give now, but we're collecting information in the same way that journalists are across the world to gather the facts about what might have happened."
The journalist replied that it 'doesn't take much guesswork' to determine the 'most likely culprit' - and named Israel - while the spokesperson responded: "I don't have any assessment to offer one way or other at this point."
Miller also urged Iran 'not to take advantage of any incident', and did say that "obviously, we believe that civilians are not legitimate targets".
According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, nine people were confirmed dead, and around 2,750 others injured – including 200 in critical condition – following mass pager explosions across Lebanon earlier on Tuesday.
The Hezbollah group called it a 'criminal aggression' by Israel, confirming that the devices belonged to "employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions", and said that it would get 'retribution'.
Israel has not commented on the blasts at time of publication. Israeli forces have engaged in long-running cross-border shelling with Hezbollah, and various Lebanese and Palestinian factions, which escalated in October 2023, with the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
'US was not involved and was not aware in advance' - State Dept on Lebanon pager explosions as Hezbollah blames Israel
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller claimed Washington was 'not involved' and 'not aware' in advance, following mass pager explosions across Lebanon, during a press briefing in DC on Tuesday.
"I can tell you that the US was not involved in it; the US was not aware of this incident in advance. And at this point, we are gathering information," he stated.
Asked 'what information' had been 'gathered so far', Miller replied: "we'll continue to collect information. I don't have any public readout to give now, but we're collecting information in the same way that journalists are across the world to gather the facts about what might have happened."
The journalist replied that it 'doesn't take much guesswork' to determine the 'most likely culprit' - and named Israel - while the spokesperson responded: "I don't have any assessment to offer one way or other at this point."
Miller also urged Iran 'not to take advantage of any incident', and did say that "obviously, we believe that civilians are not legitimate targets".
According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, nine people were confirmed dead, and around 2,750 others injured – including 200 in critical condition – following mass pager explosions across Lebanon earlier on Tuesday.
The Hezbollah group called it a 'criminal aggression' by Israel, confirming that the devices belonged to "employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions", and said that it would get 'retribution'.
Israel has not commented on the blasts at time of publication. Israeli forces have engaged in long-running cross-border shelling with Hezbollah, and various Lebanese and Palestinian factions, which escalated in October 2023, with the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller claimed Washington was 'not involved' and 'not aware' in advance, following mass pager explosions across Lebanon, during a press briefing in DC on Tuesday.
"I can tell you that the US was not involved in it; the US was not aware of this incident in advance. And at this point, we are gathering information," he stated.
Asked 'what information' had been 'gathered so far', Miller replied: "we'll continue to collect information. I don't have any public readout to give now, but we're collecting information in the same way that journalists are across the world to gather the facts about what might have happened."
The journalist replied that it 'doesn't take much guesswork' to determine the 'most likely culprit' - and named Israel - while the spokesperson responded: "I don't have any assessment to offer one way or other at this point."
Miller also urged Iran 'not to take advantage of any incident', and did say that "obviously, we believe that civilians are not legitimate targets".
According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, nine people were confirmed dead, and around 2,750 others injured – including 200 in critical condition – following mass pager explosions across Lebanon earlier on Tuesday.
The Hezbollah group called it a 'criminal aggression' by Israel, confirming that the devices belonged to "employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions", and said that it would get 'retribution'.
Israel has not commented on the blasts at time of publication. Israeli forces have engaged in long-running cross-border shelling with Hezbollah, and various Lebanese and Palestinian factions, which escalated in October 2023, with the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.