Is Lebanon on its own, or with Iran?

Among the promises which the venerable Lebanese government and presidency made was guarantee that Lebanon will “dissociate itself” from the region’s wars, and of course including Yemen’s war.

However all these promises are “like a mirage in a lowland which a thirsty one thinks is water.”

We all know that fighters of the Lebanese Hezbollah group are an organic part of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and that Hassan Nasrallah is a soldier in Velayat-e Faqih and a follower of “the ruler of Muslims”, all Muslims, Ayatollah Khamenei.

We all know about the role, which Lebanese fighters from the South, Baalbeck and Hermel are playing in Aleppo and its countryside and in Damascus’ countryside, Sayyida Zaynab neighborhood, the Qalamoun mountains and Wadi Barada and its villages.

Even in Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, you will always find a role for the trainers of this Khomeini party.

The coalition in support of legitimacy in Yemen recently announced it killed eight Hezbollah members, including a field commander, during a military operation that targeted Houthi militias in Maran in the Houthis’ stronghold in Saada.

AFP quoted spokesman for the Arab coalition Colonel Turki al-Malki as saying that this is “not the first time” Hezbollah members are killed in Yemen.

In a press conference in Riyadh, Malki said the killed Hezbollah fighters were with a group “heading to (an area) near the Saudi borders, and their (activity) was detected by surveillance of intelligence systems.”

‘Most honorable war’

What’s the Lebanese government’s position from this incident which is only one example of Hezbollah’s involvement in terrorism and war on Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other countries – a war which Nasrallah said it was the most honorable war he’s fought in his life?

I do not know the secret of this coldness or this approach of turning a deaf ear adopted by the Lebanese state towards this so-called Hezbollah, which is involved in international terrorism.

How does Lebanon want to be a normal state with a secure banking and financial system when there is this terrorist organization within its core?

The US administration led by Trump is very serious about confronting Iran’s activities and those who follow Iran, unlike the policy of the former “kind and nice” Barack Obama.

The issue is very serious, and the tender mother the Khomeini republic itself is “ahead of difficult and dangerous days” as Ali Khoram, the advisor of Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, told the Iranian Aram daily on Sunday.

The Lebanese state must choose between the interest of Lebanon and its people and the interest of Iran and its affiliate in Lebanon, Hezbollah. It’s not possible to combine the two.

There is a proverb that says: You cannot eat your cake and have it, too!

This article is also available in Arabic.

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Saudi journalist Mashari Althaydi presents Al Arabiya News Channel’s “views on the news” daily show “Maraya.” He has previously held the position of a managing senior editor for Saudi Arabia & Gulf region at pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat. Althaydi has published several papers on political Islam and social history of Saudi Arabia. He appears as a guest on several radio and television programs to discuss the ideologies of extremist groups and terrorists. He tweets under @MAlthaydy.