The US special envoy to the Middle East, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrak, caused outrage after calling on Lebanese journalists to behave “civilly” and not “like animals” during a press conference in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, CNN reports.

Barrack, who was joined by Deputy Envoy Morgan Ortagus, was in the Lebanese capital as part of US efforts to disarm the Hezbollah movement.

He scolded journalists for asking questions simultaneously — a common practice at press conferences — linking their behavior to what he called a “broader problem” in the Middle East.

“Please be quiet for a minute. And I want to tell you something. The moment everything starts to get chaotic, like animals, we will disappear. So, you want to know what's going on? Be civilized, be kind, be tolerant, because that's the problem with what's happening in the region,” he told reporters.