French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday warned that Lebanon risks a return to civil war if it is left alone to deal with the crisis that followed the deadly Beirut port explosion this month.

Iran Press/ Europe: Macron was speaking as he prepared to head to Lebanon on Monday in a new bid to press its leaders to undertake radical reform in the wake of the explosion this month that left 181 dead.

A French presidential official said that Macron would travel to Beirut in the coming days to pressure Lebanese politicians to form a government that could implement immediate reforms.

On August 4, a massive explosion took place in a nearby warehouse in the port of Beirut, containing 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate, following a massive fire in a warehouse that stored flammable stuff.

The Beirut explosion, however, had a strong political dimension to the point that street protests led to the resignation of Lebanese PM Hassan Diab's cabinet.

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