&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Iran using Lebanon as bargaining chip in negotiations with US,’ says Lebanese President Joseph Aoun")
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Friday accused Iran of exploiting his war-torn nation as a bargaining chip in its conflict with the United States and Israel and demanded that Tehran stop interfering in Lebanese affairs. Aoun delivered a strong and searing message to Tehran in an interview with CNN and said Iran is using Lebanon as a “bargaining chip” in its negotiations with the United States.
“Our house is being destroyed. [Iran is] using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiations with the United States. It is unacceptable,” he says.
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Aoun has repeatedly sought to distance Lebanon from regional conflicts and has said decisions concerning the country’s sovereignty and security must be made by the Lebanese state alone.
In an interview at the presidential palace in Beirut, President Aoun told CNN that the Lebanese people are “fed up” of war between Israel and Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed militant group and a political force seen as a state within a state in Lebanon.
Addressing Iran, Aoun said, “You are not trying to help us … the people of Lebanon are paying the price … for the sake of your own interest,” adding, “our interests … do not coincide with your interests.”
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He also turned his fire on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran’s elite military force, saying, “It’s not your country, it’s our country.”
Aoun also rejected a statement by the Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday, demanding Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon as part of a US-Iranian ceasefire agreement.
Israel and Lebanon reached an agreement on Wednesday to implement a ceasefire, but it demands a complete cessation of Hezbollah attacks and full withdrawal of all Hezbollah operatives from southern Lebanon.
“It was a tough negotiation until we had a major breakthrough,” Aoun said, adding that the agreement could be a path forward to a “just and lasting peace.”
Hezbollah, which wasn’t part of the agreement, rejected the deal on Wednesday, saying it does not guarantee an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
The latest conflict began after Hezbollah fired rockets on Israeli cities in retaliation for an assault by the US and Israel on Iran, which killed the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his senior military command.
