Tuesday, August 4th saw Lebanon mark the sixth anniversary of the deadly explosion which largely destroyed the main port in the capital and killed more than 200 people, in one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history.
Subsequent investigations appeared to involve blocking the truth and inviting allegations of political favouritism. This changed in early 2025, when incoming President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam immediately promised accountability.
In September that year, Igor Grechushkin—one of three Interpol fugitives linked to the ammonium nitrate shipment that caused the blast—was arrested in Bulgaria. Around 70 individuals are now under scrutiny as part of the judicial process.
Lebanon’s Justice Minister Adel Nassar laid a wreath at a port-side memorial on Tuesday’s anniversary, claiming:
The state and the judiciary allow this file to go to the very end. This is a must for the relatives of the victims, for the victims themselves, for all those impacted and for the Lebanese people.
