TEHRAN — Speaking in a televised speech about developments in Lebanon and the entire region broadcast via Lebanon's al-Manar television on Friday, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah said the United States and Israel are fazed by Iran's fuel shipments to Lebanon.
He added that due to the fuel shortage in Lebanon a deal was reached with Tehran to dispatch a third fuel-loaded tanker to the Mediterranean country.
Since late 2019 Lebanon has been mired in a deep financial crisis that has caused the Lebanese pound to lose around 90 percent of its value to dollar. Severe fuel shortages and wide-scale power cuts have also paralyzed the country. Additionally, Lebanon is grappling with a political deadlock.
“We have agreed to start loading a third vessel. The coming days will prove those doubtful about the shipments arriving with fuel wrong … and our words will be clear when the first vessel reaches Lebanon,” Nasrallah said five days after he confirmed that the first tanker carrying Iranian fuel for Lebanon had already departed.
The Hezbollah chief said Lebanon’s current economic crisis was due to an economic siege imposed by the U.S., stressing that the so-called Caesar sanctions by Washington on Syria has also harmed Lebanon.
Nasrallah was speaking on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the Second Liberation Day, when territories in eastern Lebanon were liberated by Hezbollah fighters and the Lebanese Army from the Takfiri Daesh and other terrorist groups.
Addressing Washington, Nasrallah added, “Go ahead and give Lebanon an exemption for Iranian gasoline and diesel … go ahead and give Lebanon an exemption from Caesar.”
Nasrallah made remarks as the small country’s fuel shortage is reaching a crunch point, threatening to bring daily life to a halt.
This is while some critics have warned of purchasing fuel from Iran. They say such purchases will likely risk U.S. sanctions imposed on Lebanon, whose economy has already been in meltdown for nearly two years.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Nasrallah touched on the issue of the current political deadlock in Lebanon, lambasting repeated delays in forming a government.
After a colossal explosion that destroyed the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, then premier Hassan Diab stepped down. However, since that date he has been running the government as caretaker prime minister.
Since then, politicians have failed to agree on a government even as Lebanon has been crippled by a major financial crisis. Political crisis over the past two years have put the national currency in a free fall, killed jobs, and made banks freeze accounts.
Nasrallah urged top politicians to stop debating names for the new cabinet and urgently form a government, which is a necessary first step to receive international support to help take Lebanon out of its deepest crisis since its 1975-90 Civil War.
“It is high time this debate now ends,” the Hezbollah chief said.
Lebanon is currently in decline, mostly due to interventions by the U.S. and France. During months of economic spiral that saw the local currency tank, poverty rates soar and the banking sector teeter on the verge of collapse, the Lebanese people have been criticizing lack of leadership and accused the political elite of plundering what was left in the country.
Lebanon’s economy has tanked. Tourists who were traveling to Lebanon in previous years and accounted for a significant portion of country’s foreign income, have stopped visiting due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Macron was in Beirut within days of the Beirut explosion, followed by the French minister of armed forces. U.S. Undersecretary of State David Hale also paid a visit to Lebanon.
During his visit to Beirut, Macron promised direct aid, but he also called for a new political system.
The U.S. and France were not helpful at all. They cried for a new political system, but at the same time, they threw obstacles in the way of forming a new government.
Nowadays, their allies are protesting Nasrallah’s decision to import fuel and mazut from Iran. They don’t care that their selfishness is harming the Lebanese nation.
On the other hand, Hezbollah chief is worried for the people and has devoted his time to negotiate with various investors to import fuel and mazut from Iran. It is a selfless act from a devoted man.
Nasrallah also declared on August 22 that as soon as the tankers leave Iranian ports until the cargo is completely unloaded, the tankers are considered within Lebanese territory and any attack on them is an attack on Lebanese territory and means a declaration of war on the Lebanese people and the party, and Hezbollah will surely respond appropriately to it.
Accordingly, during the past week, when the tankers left the Iranian ports and headed for Lebanon, they have not been in any danger. It seems that by the end of next week, when they reach their destination, there will be no particular problem for these cargoes.
Of course, this courageous action of the secretary general of Hezbollah shows the superior hand of Hezbollah in the political and security environment of Lebanon.
Finally, the new strategy will enter Hezbollah into the field of economic deterrence in Lebanon. This issue can bring a lot of peace to the minds of the Lebanese people.
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