A senior U.S. official claimed that “since 2012, Hizbollah has established caches of ammonium nitrate throughout Europe by transporting first aid kits whose cold packs contain the substance… Such caches have been moved through Belgium to France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Switzerland”. “We have reason to believe that this activity is still underway”, he added, urging “more countries to designate Hizbollah in its entirety, and for the European Union to expand its 2013 designation of the so-called military wing to reach the entire organisation”. Hizbollah “is a terrorist organisation that exists to shed blood around the world, act at the behest of its masters in Tehran”, the official argued, adding that “we think there is an obvious practical effect to our sanctions”, as well as “a very strong messaging value”. A French diplomatic spokesperson subsequently indicated that “to our knowledge, there is nothing tangible to confirm such an allegation in France today”.