Newly released images of massive US embassy compound in Lebanon prompt questions

Photographs of the building site of a new US embassy compound in Lebanon shared on Twitter on Friday have gone viral, prompting questions and hundreds of comments regarding the size of the complex.

The images, shared by the US embassy in Beirut on its official Twitter page, garnered over two million views.

The photographs show a massive multi-building compound - expected to cover a huge 43-acre site, according to an announcement by the US embassy in Beirut.

In the tweet, the US embassy in Beirut announced that "things are progressing at our new compounds".

Things are progressing at our new compound! pic.twitter.com/Eb7ogVCAHX

— U.S. Embassy Beirut (@usembassybeirut) May 5, 2023

The tweet garnered hundreds of replies, with many questioning why such a huge complex was needed in one of the region's smallest countries.

"Did the U.S. move to Lebanon??" one Twitter user asked.

"Is that an embassy or a military base?" another user wondered.

"The #USA is building the largest embassy in the Middle East in tiny #Lebanon. It's a huge spy den used for information warfare & soft war," a Twitter user said.

"We would like to know how many structures are there underneath the ground. Just out of curiosity. Also, how many trees were cut and replaced with all that cement," another user said.

At the groundbreaking ceremony of the US embassy in Beirut in 2017, Ambassador Elizabeth Richard said: "Breaking ground today on our New Embassy Compound is a strong message to the Lebanese people that we are with you for the long term."

This is not the first time the US invests in an expansive embassy compound in the Middle East.

The US owns a massive compound in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, which sits on a whopping 104 acres and is described as the largest embassy in the world - nearly as large as the Vatican City.

The US' newly established consulate in Erbil also occupies a vast area of approximately 50 acres, while its embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul - constructed before the Taliban takeover - sits on 36 acres of land.