Beirut, Lebanon. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Iran of using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with the United States, in some of his strongest criticism yet of Tehran and Hezbollah as fighting with Israel continues.
In an interview with CNN, Aoun said Lebanese people were paying the price for Iran’s interests and were tired of war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Aoun criticizes Iran and Hezbollah
Aoun said Iran was using Lebanon as leverage in its negotiations with Washington, calling it unacceptable, according to excerpts from the interview published on CNN’s website.
He said “the people of Lebanon are paying the price … for the sake” of Iran’s interests and were “fed up” with the war between Israel and Hezbollah, comments that reflect deep divisions across Lebanon’s confessional and political landscape.
Conflict and political divisions
Hezbollah, a Shi’ite Muslim group founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, began the latest hostilities more than three months ago when it opened fire in solidarity with Tehran as Iran came under U.S.-Israeli attack.
Aoun, a former Lebanese military commander who became president last year, is a Maronite Christian under Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.
Since his election by parliament, he has pressed for the peaceful disarmament of Hezbollah. Early in the war, he also called for face-to-face talks with Israel, further deepening differences with the group.
Ceasefire dispute
Iran has made a Lebanon ceasefire a condition for any peace deal with Washington in the broader regional conflict that began with the U.S.-Israeli attack on Tehran on February 28.
On Thursday, Hezbollah rejected a ceasefire plan agreed by Lebanese and Israeli government officials in U.S.-mediated talks in Washington. The proposal was contingent on Hezbollah ending its fire and withdrawing its fighters from southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a written statement on Thursday that direct Lebanon-Israel talks in Washington were rejected by “broad segments of the Lebanese people”.
Addressing Qassem, Aoun said: “The Lebanese people are not your people”.
