Lara Yazbek – Central
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced in front of a large gathering of figures who included the breakfast he held on Wednesday evening at the Grand Serail, “We will not accept being dragged into a new war.” He said, “We live in a region that is changing rapidly and witnessing historical turning points, and in light of the dangers surrounding us, it is not in our interest and we will not accept that Lebanon be dragged into a new adventure or war. Our hope is that everyone will enjoy reason and rationality and raise Lebanon’s interest above any other interest.”
A few hours before this position, a Hezbollah official was quoted as saying that the party does not intend to intervene militarily if the United States directs “limited” strikes against Iran, while warning of a “red line” that is targeting the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The official, who requested to remain anonymous, said: If the American strikes on Iran are limited, Hezbollah’s position is not to intervene militarily. But if its goal is to overthrow the Iranian regime or target the person of the leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, then the party will intervene.”
Contacts between the Lebanese state and its pillars, on the one hand, and Hezbollah, on the other hand, are continuing to prevent its involvement in any American-Iranian confrontation in the near future. This movement began weeks ago and has not ended yet. Its last public manifestation was the meeting that included Wednesday in Ain al-Tineh, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nabih Berri, and Advisor to the President of the Republic, General Joseph Aoun, Brigadier General Andre Rahal.
According to what informed political sources told Al Markazia, what these contacts have succeeded in achieving so far is extracting half a positive position from Hezbollah.
He informed the Lebanese state that he would remain militarily neutral if the American strikes did not threaten the survival of the Iranian regime or the Supreme Leader, which the party official revealed to Agence France-Presse. However, on the other hand, the party refuses to give the state any guarantees if the fate of the government in Tehran is at stake. On the contrary, as it did not hide during some messages transmitted between the suburb and the Lebanese decision-making headquarters, that it is its duty to intervene if the Islamic Republic, its guardian, is exposed to an existential threat, and it did not hesitate to say that it is impossible for him to remain a spectator in such a situation, because he would be violating his jihadist duty, according to the sources.
While official efforts continue with the party to discourage it from moving militarily, whatever the circumstances, the sources say that this mission seems almost impossible, and that Lebanon, if the mullahs’ regime feels the heat, will live through difficult days, which will not end except with the fall of the leader’s rule or with the Israeli army eliminating the party’s weapons. That is, if Tel Aviv does not decide to strike the party pre-emptively, as long as the state does not collect its weapons, and as long as it does not hide its intention to attack Israel if the leader and his regime are exposed to danger, the sources conclude.
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