Aoun Stigmatizes Hezbollah's Actions in The Gulf

It was to the rhythm of missile exchanges between Iran and Israel that the Arab and Islamic world celebrated, on Friday, the Eid al-Fitr, which marks the breaking of the Ramadan fast.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun spoke by phone on Friday on this occasion with his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. During this conversation, the head of state "condemned the involvement of certain political parties in a sabotage plot that the Emirates announced they had thwarted today" (Friday), according to a statement from the Lebanese presidency, referring to accusations against Hezbollah.

The pro-Iranian militia, for its part, on Friday rejected the "fallacious" accusations by the United Arab Emirates, which announced the arrest of at least five members of a terrorist network linked to Iran and Hezbollah, against a backdrop of war in the Middle East.

This is the third time this week that the Shiite movement has denied any link with cells dismantled in Gulf countries.

Hezbollah's network in the Emirates had "sought to infiltrate the national economy and carry out external operations threatening the country's financial stability" as part of "a predefined strategic plan, in coordination with external parties linked to Hezbollah and Iran," the official news agency Wam reported, citing Emirati security services.

In this same context, Hezbollah twice this week denied any presence in Kuwait, after the arrest of 16 people accused of planning a "sabotage" operation. The Kuwaiti authorities also reported the dismantling of a cell of ten people affiliated with Hezbollah who were preparing, according to the emirate, "a terrorist plot targeting vital installations." During a telephone conversation with the Emir of Kuwait, President Aoun was also expected to condemn Hezbollah's actions in the emirate.

For his part, the United States ambassador to Beirut, Michel Issa, welcomed President Joseph Aoun's proposal to initiate direct negotiations with Israel to end the war against Hezbollah. Mr. Issa nevertheless stated that Israel had not "decided to end its strikes".

"Lebanon must decide whether it should meet the Israelis under these circumstances," he added.

Furthermore, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Friday called on Iran for "major concessions". "The Iranian regime must commit to a radical change in posture allowing for the peaceful coexistence of Iran with its regional environment," he added.

French diplomacy is particularly seeking to avoid an escalation of the conflict between Israel and Lebanon, dragged by Hezbollah into a war that does not concern it. Jean-Noël Barrot thus condemned "Hezbollah's inadmissible and irresponsible decision" to join "Iranian aggressions against Israel," while reaffirming Paris's readiness to facilitate "direct" talks between Tel Aviv and Beirut.

Tel Aviv still does not rule out the possibility of a large-scale ground incursion that France is trying to avoid, while Hezbollah continues to target northern Israel. The Israeli military spokesman announced on Friday that Tel Aviv intends to increase pressure on Hezbollah and expand its ground military operations in southern Lebanon in the coming days. He specified that the Israeli army has targeted more than 2000 objectives of this group since it began attacking its territory, and will continue to do so.

Since the start of the war launched by the Israel-United States axis against Iran on February 28, Israeli authorities have reiterated that their military operations will only end when the set objectives are achieved: annihilate Iran's capacity to produce nuclear and ballistic weapons, weaken, if not destroy, the Mullahs' regime and its proxies in the region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump have both reaffirmed that they are getting closer to this.

In response to these statements, the Revolutionary Guards in Iran announced on Friday that Tehran "has been continuing missile production since the beginning of the war," has no shortage of stocks, and that "there is no concern about this," according to Reuters.

They also threatened to target Israeli and American officials. This threat, in particular, follows the continuous elimination of Iranian command cadres.

The Pasdaran thus confirmed on Friday the death of their spokesman, Ali-Mohammad Naïni, while Israel announced the liquidation of a "key commander of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, Mehdi Rastami Shmastan, during a targeted strike on Wednesday".

On another note, the United Kingdom authorized the United States to use British bases to strike Iranian sites targeting the Strait of Hormuz as part of "defensive operations," a decision that London should have taken "much more quickly" according to Donald Trump.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, for his part, accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer on X of putting "British lives at risk by authorizing the use of British bases to launch aggression against Iran".