Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Iran of using Lebanon as a “bargaining chip” with Washington, in an interview with CNN published on Friday, June 5, as a new truce between Israel and Hezbollah already appears stillborn.
“This is not your country, it is ours,” Aoun said, addressing Tehran and the Revolutionary Guards. The Lebanese president called it “unacceptable” for Lebanese people to pay the price for Iranian interests in negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
Aoun also challenged Hezbollah’s claim to speak on behalf of the Lebanese people. Addressing Naim Qassem, he said: “The Lebanese people are not your people,” adding that “the majority of Lebanese people are tired of war.”
The Lebanese president defended the continuation of talks with Israel, already under way through US mediation, presenting diplomacy as the only possible path forward. “We are ready, we are willing, we are committed,” he said.
Tehran rejected the accusations. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded that if Lebanon were truly a bargaining chip for Iran, “a deal would have been reached long ago,” according to An-Nahar.
The interview comes as Israel has carried out new strikes in southern Lebanon and Hezbollah continues to fire toward northern Israel. Since March 2, more than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli attacks, including 711 women, children and rescue workers, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The toll does not specify how many fighters are among the dead.
Hezbollah is also believed to have suffered very heavy losses. According to Israeli estimates cited by Maariv and reported by MTV Lebanon, Israel believes it has killed, wounded or put out of action nearly half of the pro-Iranian movement’s fighters. The figure is striking, but it has not been confirmed by Hezbollah, which now says very little about its losses.
Aoun’s remarks put Hezbollah’s disarmament back at the center of Lebanon’s crisis, between Israeli military pressure, Hezbollah fire toward Israel, growing pushback against Iranian influence and the Lebanese state’s stated aim of regaining control over security decisions.