Is Iran Able to Save Lebanon from Its Crises?

The Persian version of the newspaper said in an article by the writer Badi Younes: "This group is considered as  terrorist, and Lebanon is considered as  an isolated island because of this party's control over everything."

The writer dealt with many issues, such as the recent media appearance of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, "after recovering from the Coronavirus."

In early June, the Hebrew media announced conflicting news about Nasrallah's death, saying that he " is dying."

At the end of May, Nasrallah gave a speech and he was sick. At the same time Hassan Nasrallah was threatening  Israel", which drew the attention of the public. However, "his health condition became the talk of people on social media."

The writer says: Hassan Nasrallah's last media appearance was not a simple event, especially due to the spread of conflicting news about his health after he was infected with the Coronavirus.

Undoubtedly, the news that spread recently regarding his death is fake, and for the same reason he wanted to reassure his fans that he is fine  this time and even stronger than before after appearing with a gloomy face regarding the aggression in Gaza (May 10-21, 2021).

 

Feeling Strong

According to the newspaper, Nasrallah's speech was very tough and terrifying, and there is no doubt that his situation at the present time is much better compared to the last months of Donald Trump's presidency.

The writer says, "Hassan Nasrallah feels that he is stronger than before, taking into account Tehran current position in the Vienna talks (on the nuclear agreement), in addition to US President Joe Biden's policies toward Iran."

Two things in Hassan Nasrallah's speech are interesting: the first is that "Iran can sell oil to Hezbollah in Lebanese pounds." 

The Lebanese pound has dropped to a third of its current value, amid an unprecedented political and economic crisis in Lebanon. Accordingly, Tehran's support for Beirut ``will be at the expense of the Iranian people," according to the writer.

The second is more exciting than the first, as Nasrallah said in his speech, "We will bring this support, and the Lebanese government will not be able to prevent this step." Hence, we must analyse these two matters, the writer says.

The writer said: "The problem of hydrocarbons in Lebanon has become obvious  because of smuggling in the past years, and all the evidence and proofs confirm  the role of Hezbollah in this crisis." and oil was smuggled illegally through the party's control of the official crossings,  to Syria.

Then the writer asks: Is Iran currently in a better position in exporting oil? Will it continue to support Lebanon again and choose the interests of Hezbollah over the interests of the Iranian people?

He adds, "Will Hezbollah and a later Iran allow the formation of a "real government" in Lebanon? If there was a popular government in Beirut, militias like the party would not rule this country, and there would be no unlicensed weapons in its hands."

He believes that Iran is facing the same conditions, where the Revolutionary Guards control the people's lives, livelihoods, conditions and rights, as well as their fate.  Hezbollah created the same situation in Lebanon. 

Younes continued: By creating a fuel crisis, Hezbollah wants to present the Iranian regime as a savior for Lebanon. It also wants,by severing Beirut's foreign relations, to turn this country into an isolated island, providing all its needs through the Islamic Republic. Hezbollah wants Beirut to be dependent on it.

 

Lebanon's crises

The writer added: "Any book you read about Lebanon and its characteristics, it must refer in its introduction to its special geographical location, and its distinguished civilization, which made it turn into a "gateway between East and West."

Throughout its history, this country has been known to always link the Arab world with the West, but today it seems that it has lost this feature. Perhaps, this is due to the actions and decisions of some basic components that hijacked the decision-making authority, controlled its foreign policy, and thus  Lebanon lost the appropriate position.

Lebanon is no longer known as the "Switzerland of the East", because it lost the key to its gateway to Europe and the United States, as the writer sees . As a first step, Lebanon is no longer associated with Arab countries following the decision taken by Hezbollah.

Although Lebanon is considered as a member of the Arab League, it avoided agreeing to the position of the Arab countries regarding the region's conflicts (in more than one previous event). In this case, the Arabs are well aware of Lebanon's situation, and with the aim of saving it they found a diplomatic solution to get it out of these crises, but the former Lebanese Foreign Minister, Gebran Bassil, who was supported by Hezbollah, was not ready to accept this proposal. Hezbollah expanded its involvement in the region's conflicts, contrary to the decisions of the Lebanese government.

This party continues to threaten the security of the region and create a state of instability in the countries within Iran's influence, including Lebanon.

 In March 2016, the Arab League decided that Hezbollah was one of the most important political and military institutions of the Lebanese government and was declared a "terrorist organization."

This decision was not without any reason. It was taken at a time when the Hezbollah militias were on the side of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, and they started the war against the Syrian demonstrators.

In addition, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of this group, was criticizing the Arab countries in all his conversations, especially the Arab Gulf states, and was attacking them.

This came at a time when these countries were securing the lives of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese citizens and their families, and they were always welcoming  the Lebanese helping   them to find job opportunities, according to the writer.

Interventions and Repercussions

Younes added: In Hezbollah’s intervention in the conflicts in Yemen, This party stood by the Houthis side, participated in the war against Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Arab coalition. By interfering in the affairs of Iraq and Syria, Hezbollah opposed all the decisions of the Arab League.

By sending military trainers and experts to Yemen, Hezbollah worked to train the Houthi militia militarily on launching ballistic missiles ...

In this case, if the Lebanese government was not represented by Hezbollah, and this party did not control all the institutions specialized in decision-making in the regional and international files, the Lebanese people would not have faced such a crisis and internal challenges.

However, this party effectively managed the state, and the characteristics of Lebanon changed in terms of political, economic, and social dimensions.

The Lebanese people live at home, in an isolated state under the rule of one party, and face unprecedented economic, political, and security crises resulting from corruption and the lack of an independent government, according to the author.

The writer believes that "there is no doubt that the first step to saving Lebanon is to remove government institutions from Hezbollah's control, so that the Lebanese can work to form a government . The Arab world and the international community will not be able to trust Beirut and give it billions of dollars as long as Hezbollah's interference in Syria, Iraq and Yemen does not stop.

The writer says that these parties are waiting for Lebanon to implement the United Nations Security Council resolutions, which include preventing the entry of weapons into Hezbollah and stopping the party's operations in Arab, European, and African countries.

He concluded his article by saying: If the Iranian regime – with the help of Hezbollah - is the cause of all of Lebanon's tragedies, it cannot be the same as its savior. He continues: "As a result, Hassan Nasrallah's words are meaningless and useless."