The importance of Lebanese lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah\u2019s latest visit to Tehran lies not in the trip itself. Hezbollah\u2019s alliance with Iran is public and well established. What stands out is its timing and the way it was announced. <\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry disclosed the visit as the Lebanese state seeks to chart a political course free from regional rivalries and assert that decisions concerning Lebanon must run through state institutions. <\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry said two days ago that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi received Fadlallah, a member of Hezbollah\u2019s parliamentary bloc, in Tehran. Hezbollah\u2019s representative in Iran, Abdallah Safieddine, attended the meeting. <\/p>\n
The ministry said the talks covered the latest developments in Lebanon and Israeli attacks. Araghchi reaffirmed Iran\u2019s support for Lebanon and its \u201cdefense of its territorial integrity, dignity and national sovereignty.\u201d <\/p>\n
Fadlallah praised Iran\u2019s position and what he called its strong diplomacy, urging a unified Islamic stand against Israel. <\/p>\n
Outcomes of the visit <\/p>\n
Ministerial sources said Hezbollah\u2019s relationship with Iran \u201crequires no interpretation. It is an alliance both sides openly take pride in.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when Lebanese officials are working to separate the two tracks, this visit again raises questions about whether the party respects the role of the state and the positions of its officials,\u201d they said. <\/p>\n
The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat: \u201cThis is certainly not the first time a Hezbollah official has visited Tehran, nor will it be the last. But it may be the first time such a visit has been announced in this way \u2014 through an official statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThat gives the meeting an official character that goes beyond receiving a Lebanese lawmaker. It appears almost as a meeting between officials of two states.\u201d <\/p>\n
Still, the sources said the key question was what the visit would produce: whether it would ease the process now underway or make it even more difficult, particularly because Fadlallah is responsible for negotiations with the Lebanese presidency. <\/p>\n
\u201cWill Hezbollah cooperate with the state in the process it is managing, particularly over negotiations with Israel? Or will it continue rejecting decisions made by state institutions and escalate further?\u201d they asked. <\/p>\n
The question is even more pressing as Iranian-American negotiations falter and threaten repercussions in Lebanon, they warned. <\/p>\n
Communications cut <\/p>\n
The sources said communications between President Joseph Aoun and Hezbollah had been cut, with no recent contact. The only remaining channel is with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Hezbollah\u2019s key ally. <\/p>\n
The visit came days after the United States imposed new sanctions on Hezbollah, targeting 10 individuals and a network Washington accused of moving funds between Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards\u2019 Quds Force and the Lebanese group. <\/p>\n
Hezbollah responded by declaring its pride in its relationship with Iran and reaffirming its commitment to the \u201cpath of resistance.\u201d <\/p>\n
El Hage: They challenge the state every day <\/p>\n
Lebanese Forces parliamentary bloc member Razi El Hage said there was \u201cnothing unusual\u201d about Fadlallah\u2019s visit to Tehran. <\/p>\n
Hezbollah has never let a day pass without treating Iran as the foundation of the equation. The group opposed the state and sought to place Lebanon within the framework of Iranian-American negotiations, he told Asharq Al-Awsat. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a new challenge to the state. They challenge it every day through their positions and their insistence on keeping Lebanese decision-making tied to foreign powers,\u201d El Hage said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey must understand that the clock will not be turned back. The state has embarked on a course from which there can be no retreat.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThey are making the decision to slaughter Lebanon,\u201d El Hage added. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur position will remain firm. We will not retreat from our demand that the state alone hold decision-making authority and continue along the path it has begun.\u201d <\/p>\n
El Hage also called on the government to enforce its decisions more firmly, saying the state must prove it can assert its authority and protect Lebanon from attempts to keep it an arena for other countries\u2019 conflicts. <\/p>\n
Lebanese decisions first <\/p>\n
Fadlallah\u2019s visit came as President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam have taken clear positions on keeping Lebanon out of other countries\u2019 conflicts. <\/p>\n
Aoun previously said Iran was \u201cusing Lebanon as a bargaining chip\u201d in its negotiations with the United States. <\/p>\n
He said he was working to implement a policy of distancing Lebanon from regional conflicts and insisted that decisions affecting the country\u2019s sovereignty and security must rest exclusively with the Lebanese state. <\/p>\n
Salam previously said: \u201cOnce again, the South and its people are paying the price for a decision they did not take. If I may address Iran directly: have mercy on our south and stop treating it as a bargaining chip in your negotiations.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cLebanon is not a mailbox for others\u2019 messages, nor a battlefield for their wars,\u201d he stated. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The importance of Lebanese lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah\u2019s latest visit to Tehran lies not in the trip itself. Hezbollah\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597363,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-597362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}