The Lebanese State breaks a taboo regarding the Hezb

The break seems complete, at least at the current stage, between President of the Republic Joseph Aoun and Hezbollah. In response to the smear campaign waged against him by pro-Iranian party circles, who practically treat him as a “traitor” due to the direct negotiations initiated with Israel, the Head of State responded directly to his detractors on Monday, in front of a delegation from Arkoub and Hasbaya. He thus stated, quite aptly and with complete frankness, in a clear allusion to Hezbollah, that “true treason is that of which those who drag the country into war to serve foreign interests are guilty.”

This is the first time in many years that a President of the Republic has so frankly attacked Hezbollah's course of action. The tension between the authorities and the pro-Iranian party openly emerged when the Executive explicitly asked Hezbollah not to engage in a possible war that would be launched against Iran, affirming that the government would react very firmly if the pro-Iranian faction embarked on this path. Hezbollah ignored the government's warning, and at dawn on March 2, 48 hours after the launch of the American-Israeli attack against the mullah regime on February 28, it took the initiative to open the Southern Lebanon front by launching six rockets at northern Israel, in all likelihood at the instigation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

The day after the outbreak of hostilities by the Shiite party, the Council of Ministers made the decision to consider Hezbollah's militia-security apparatus illegal. Since then, tension has steadily grown between the government and the ally of the Pasdaran, particularly after President Aoun's decision to engage in direct negotiations with Israel, under the aegis of the United States. These direct talks were strongly condemned by Hezbollah, and just this Monday, April 27, the secretary-general of the pro-Iranian party, Sheikh Naim Qassem, asked the government to halt direct negotiations with the Jewish state. He took the opportunity to reiterate his refusal to hand over his party's weapons to the state, reaffirming that “the resistance continues.”

On social networks, Hezbollah supporters practically unleashed themselves against President Aoun, even uttering threats against him and accusing him of colluding with Israel due to the direct negotiations with Israel.

It is in this tense context that the Israeli air force continued its bombings against Hezbollah's infrastructure and positions in Southern Lebanon on Monday. In this regard, the pan-Arab channel El-Hadath reported on Monday that the Shiite party asked the residents of the Nabatiyeh region to leave their homes because it intends to turn this area into a battlefield against Israel.

The standoff with Iran

On the front of the conflict in Iran, Iranian diplomatic chief Abbas Araghchi traveled to Moscow for consultations with Russian leaders. However, these diplomatic negotiations are not reflected in an easing of tensions in the direct US-Iranian talks, which appeared to be at a complete standstill on Monday due to the fact that the Iranian side (guided by the Pasdaran) is imposing new conditions on the dialogue. These notably include the payment of financial compensation at the end of the war, the recognition of Iran's right to enrich uranium, the lifting of the maritime blockade imposed by the United States, and the postponement of any discussion on the nuclear program to a later stage. Conditions that in all likelihood reflect the radical position of the Pasdaran, who have reportedly succeeded in taking control of the decision-making center in Tehran.

This hardline position is openly denounced by European countries. President Emmanuel Macron thus invited the Iranian regime to make concessions, while the Quai d'Orsay emphasized that Iran has “crossed all red lines” in the current conflict. At the same time, a British Minister of State stressed on Monday that maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz must be conducted “without hindrance and without the imposition of a toll,” as demanded by the Iranian regime, in violation of international Conventions which stipulate that the Strait of Hormuz cannot be subject to a toll due to the fact that it is a natural passageway, not a man-made work, and therefore must be open to all ships, unhindered. It should be noted in this context that Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Monday evening that Iran wants to negotiate in order to “get out of the chaos into which it is plunged.”