A Risky Venture: What Lies Behind Hezbollah’s Media Attack on the Lebanese Prime Minister?

Political tensions in Lebanon are once again intensifying, as friction deepens between the government and Hezbollah, along with its allies, amid growing official calls to place all weapons in the country under the sole authority of the state.

Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, led by parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, have sharpened their criticism of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who has recently ramped up his rhetoric on the need to disarm non-state actors and centralise military authority.

Nawaf Salam and Hezbollah

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has made the exclusive control of weapons by the state a central priority, aligning with what he describes as a new era for Lebanon—one that seeks to move beyond delay and political stalling. Yet his stance has drawn sharp attacks from Hezbollah’s powerful media apparatus.

In a particularly pointed intervention, Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan, Lebanon’s “Grand Jaafari Mufti” and a staunch Hezbollah ally, launched a fierce broadside against Salam, couched in effusive praise for the Iranian revolution.

Addressing the prime minister directly, Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan stated, “As a matter of historical ethics, I say this: you are prime minister thanks to the Iranian revolution’s support for the resistance—resistance that liberated Lebanon, reclaimed the state and the land, and defeated Israel. What’s expected is gratitude to those who stood by Beirut in its darkest hour, not condemnation.”

“The era of exporting the Iranian revolution is over,” Qabalan noted. The cleric also lashed out at Salam for rejecting what Hezbollah calls the “duality of weapons”—the notion that both the state and the resistance can legitimately bear arms.

“Sovereignty,” Qabalan added, “means recognizing that no weapon holds more legitimacy than that which liberated Lebanon—and continues to protect it.”

“By the logic of land, history, and liberation, no legitimacy can surpass that of the resistance’s arms and those of the Lebanese army.” 

“When Lebanon acquires F-35 fighter jets and THAAD missile systems, then we can begin discussing the weapons of the resistance—those that achieved some of the most complex miracles of liberation and protection,” Qabalan said.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc Loyalty to the Resistance, was asked on 26 May to comment on Prime Minister Salam’s remark that “the era of exporting the Iranian revolution is over.” His response was terse but telling, “I decline to comment—out of respect for what remains of cordiality.”

The backlash against Nawaf Salam has spilled onto the streets, with chants denouncing him as a “Zionist” echoing through the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium in Beirut, alongside slogans in support of Hezbollah.

Hezbollah’s origins date back to 1982, when the Iranian Revolutionary Guard played a pivotal role in its formation, providing the group with equipment and training. 

Since then, Iran has provided Hezbollah with a steady flow of weapons and funding, enabling it to evolve into a powerful, semi-autonomous entity within the Lebanese state.

The United States, meanwhile, continues to view the Lebanese Armed Forces as a necessary counterbalance to Hezbollah, whose estimated 100,000 fighters rival the size of Lebanon’s national army.

Hezbollah’s long-standing ties to Tehran have never been a secret. On June 24, 2016, the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, stated unequivocally, “The party’s budget, salaries, expenses, food, drink, weapons, and rockets all come from the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The United States, along with key EU states including France, Germany, and the Netherlands, designates Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation and has banned its operations on their soil.

In contrast to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s call for consolidating military authority under the state, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary-general, Sheikh Naim Qassem, continues to promote a different formula, “Army, people, and resistance”—a tripartite doctrine that anchors the group’s enduring justification for holding arms alongside the state.

In a rare and pointed rebuke, Foreign Minister Youssef Raji pushed back against Hezbollah’s long-standing “tripartite formula,” stating, “He can say what he likes—but the Lebanese people no longer accept this hollow triad. It’s over.”

Speaking to Al-Quds Al-Arabi on 28 May 2025, Raji underlined that “the Lebanese state does not negotiate over its sovereignty,” describing Hezbollah as an “armed organisation operating outside the law,” and declaring it “illegitimate.”

Addressing the group directly, he added, “Hand over your weapons and form, along with your supporters, a normal political party—with whatever ideology you choose.”

Raji argued that the backlash against him stems from one core issue: “They simply do not want weapons to be exclusively in the hands of the state, no matter what.”

In response, Lebanese MP and member of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, Amin Sherri, accused the foreign minister of abandoning his national responsibilities, saying Raji was “acting as though he is not Lebanon’s foreign minister.”

Sherri went on to criticize what he described as a narrow domestic focus on disarmament, arguing that it overlooks equally pressing concerns, such as “the liberation of occupied land and ongoing Israeli aggression.”

A Risky Venture

Notably, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri addressed Prime Minister Nawaf Salam directly, describing the current state of their relationship with a metaphorical exchange, “If I escalate, you escalate; if I back down, you back down.” He made the remark during an interview with al-Jumhuriya, published on May 30, 2025.

Responding to international conditions tying Lebanon’s reconstruction funding to Hezbollah’s full disarmament, Berri stated, “The agreement does not stipulate that. We have fully implemented our obligations under the ceasefire accord regarding the withdrawal of weapons from south of the Litani River.”

Following the death of Hezbollah’s former leader Hassan Nasrallah on September 28, 2024, the group reportedly granted Berri broad political authority, empowering him to oversee efforts aimed at securing a ceasefire in Lebanon.

Hezbollah and the Amal Movement—often referred to as the “Shiite duo” in Lebanon—remain close allies, cooperating on numerous electoral fronts as well as aligning on key political positions.

Within this context, Lebanese political analyst Asaad Bishara told Al-Estiklal that “Nawaf Salam is tasked with implementing the ceasefire in Lebanon, upholding international resolutions, and deploying the army in the south.”

He is also charged with “working towards the withdrawal of Israel from the five strategic positions it occupies in the south—this being the roadmap set out by the new government, in line with the ceasefire agreement.”

“What’s striking is that Nabih Berri is leading the charge against Nawaf Salam, warning him: ‘If you choose to escalate, we will respond in kind; but if you seek calm, we stand with you.’” Bishara added.

“What does this mean? It means that Nabih Berri is now the public face of Hezbollah’s efforts to undermine the ceasefire agreement, effectively stripping it of its substance to prevent the disarmament of the party and the transfer of weapons to the state.”

“Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is in the right position and is taking at least the minimum necessary steps—but Hezbollah remains adamant about refusing to hand over its arms, a stance that risks dragging Lebanon into a military gamble potentially even more dangerous than the previous war,” Bishara continued.

Many observers believe the key to unlocking reconstruction and recovery lies in resolving the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons. The matter is highly sensitive in Lebanon and demands a careful, committee-based approach, involving representatives from both the Lebanese state and Hezbollah, to establish a clear mechanism for the party’s disarmament.

Hezbollah’s arsenal ranges from heavy and medium weaponry to short- and long-range missiles, as well as a variety of drones, including suicide drones.

Yet, official and technical discussions on the party’s weapons remain mired in delay and procrastination, with many preliminary steps still unresolved before serious progress can be made.

The increasingly aggressive rhetoric from Hezbollah’s media apparatus and its allies in Lebanon underscores the vast gulf between Prime Minister Salam’s ambitions and the party’s agenda.

Since assuming office, Nawaf Salam has frequently affirmed that reclaiming the state’s monopoly on the decision to go to war is a fundamental step towards strengthening the constitution and restoring Lebanon’s institutions across all spheres.

Rejecting the State's Authority

“The Lebanese government has achieved approximately 80 percent of its objectives in disarming militias in the southernmost areas of the country,” Salam said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Of the 265 Hezbollah military positions identified south of the Litani River, approximately 190 have been handed over to the Lebanese army as part of the ceasefire agreement reached between Lebanon and “Israel” on November 27, 2024.

The ceasefire agreement called for Hezbollah’s withdrawal to the north of the Litani River—some 30 kilometres from the border with occupied Palestine—and for the dismantling of the group’s remaining infrastructure in the south, to be replaced by the deployment of the Lebanese army.

Yet the most sensitive element of the ceasefire terms remains the commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which mandates that all weapons be confined to the Lebanese state.

On April 12, 2025, President Michel Aoun warned that any arms outside the state’s control “endanger Lebanon’s interests,” underscoring the growing controversy surrounding Hezbollah’s arsenal.

In a speech from Baabda marking the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the civil war in Beirut, President Aoun stated, “The time has come for us all to say: only the state, its army, and its official security forces can protect the country.”

This apparent confusion within Hezbollah’s rhetoric was described by Lebanese political sources as a “pre-emptive recognition of the seriousness surrounding the disarmament of Palestinian factions in Lebanon—a development that could have repercussions for Hezbollah’s own arsenal,” according to Nidaa Al-Watan newspaper on May 30, 2025.

On May 21, 2025, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Lebanese counterpart, Michel Aoun, agreed to establish a joint committee to monitor the conditions of Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, reaffirming their commitment to the principle of the state’s exclusive monopoly on arms.

The newspaper added: “According to sources, Hezbollah decided to launch its attack on Nawaf Salam in an effort to sow division between the president and the prime minister, despite President Aoun’s clear and consistent stance on the weapons issue, which aligns with that of the prime minister.”

Sources further explained that “the response to this assault must come through the continued implementation of the government’s plan to collect illegal arms, in line with the ministerial statement adopted when the cabinet was granted confidence in February 2025—a statement that notably secured the backing of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc.”

Within this context, Lebanese writer Yassin Shibli observed that “the current official dispute between Hezbollah and Salam recalls darker periods in their relationship, marked by the party’s rejection of the natural logic of the state and its insistence on sharing its responsibilities.”

“Those periods plunged Lebanon and its people into a cycle of division and conflict dating back to 2004, a trajectory that has brought the country to its current state of collapse, fragmentation, defeat, occupation, and the imposition of Arab and international tutelage across all aspects of political, economic, and military life.”

“There are those who continue to stubbornly dispute the very nature of resistance and sovereignty, indulging in a willful denial of the reality that has brought the country to its knees, instead of engaging in earnest and sincere cooperation with the government to overcome this bitter predicament,” Shibli concluded.