Lebanon criticizes ‘blatant interference’ in comments attributed to Iranian official

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday offered a rare rebuke to Iran, accusing it of “blatant interference” over comments attributed to its parliament speaker on a UN resolution on Hezbollah and Lebanon.

The Security Council resolution, adopted in 2006 and which states that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeeping forces should be deployed in southern Lebanon, came into focus during the last war between Israel and Hezbollah.

In statements published by the French newspaper Le Figaro on Thursday, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, was quoted as saying that his government was ready to negotiate the implementation of the resolution, which is seen as a precondition for a cease-fire. fire in war.

Mikati responded, accusing Iran of “blatant interference in Lebanese affairs and an attempt to establish unacceptable tutelage over Lebanon.”

“The issue of negotiation to implement international resolution 1701 is being carried out by the Lebanese state,” Mikati said in a statement released by his office.

“Everyone is obliged to support him in this sense, and not seek to impose new mandates”.

Mikati said Lebanon’s foreign minister would summon Iran’s chargé d’affaires to seek clarification on Ghalibaf’s remarks.

Such public criticism is rare in the case of the Lebanese government, over which the Iranian-backed Hezbollah exercises influence.

Hezbollah is more heavily armed than the national military and is the only group that did not disarm after the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war.

Israel has vowed to continue fighting Hezbollah until it secures its northern border with Israel, and to date, the Iran-backed group has said it will not lay down its weapons until a ceasefire is agreed not only for Lebanon but also in Gaza.

The Lebanese government is, however, pushing for a de-escalation in Lebanon that does not link the country’s fate to that of the Palestinian territory.

– New climb? –

Israel has been at war in Gaza since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,206 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count of official Israeli figures that includes hostages killed in captivity.

Hezbollah opened a new front in the war in support of its ally Hamas, launching low-intensity attacks across the Lebanese border, forcing tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes.

Both groups are part of the so-called resistance axis, led by Iran.

Iran’s foreign minister and parliament speaker have visited Lebanon since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah late last month.

Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike south of Beirut on September 27, dealing a seismic blow to the group.

– Mobilization of troops –

On Tuesday, Mikati told AFP that his country was ready to reinforce its army presence in the south of the country if there was a ceasefire.

“The Lebanese state is ready to impose its sovereignty over the entire Lebanese territory,” he said.

Mikati said his cash-strapped government would start by recruiting 1,500 more soldiers into the army, and that as soon as any ceasefire was agreed, they would mobilize soldiers from other parts of Lebanon.

On September 30, Israel launched a ground offensive into neighboring Lebanon and, since then, Hezbollah has reported regular clashes between its fighters and Israeli troops in border villages.

On Thursday, the Iran-backed group said it was launching “a new and escalating phase” against Israel as fighting intensifies at close range.

The war has left at least 1,418 people dead in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of data from the Lebanese Ministry of Health, although the real number is probably higher.