When 47-year-old Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri fled Nov. 5 to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Hezbollah’s 57-year-old Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said he was under house arrest. Nasrallah’s outrageous propaganda tells the story about Iran’s surrogate militia that, for all practical purposes, has taken over Lebanon. With only 14 seats in Lebanon’s parliament, Nasrallah’s heavily armed terror organization has intimidated the balance of Lebanon’s parliament, leaving him the de facto ruler of the once French Mediterranean colony called the Mideast’s “Paris.” Let there be no mistake, Hariri fled from Beirut to escape death threats from Hezbollah, the government within the government. Iran continues its sneaky ways of destabilizing Mideast governments, including Saana, Yemen, Damascus, Syria and now Beirut. Hariri flew to Paris to confer with French President Emanuel Macron.
Nasrallah’s Saudi house arrest remarks are so preposterous, so outrageous, such unmitigated propaganda, they defy explanation. Hariri sought Macron’s help to plan strategy to save Lebanon from Hezbollah’s grip. Marcon sought Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s counsel on how to proceed. “President Macron updated Prime Minster Netanyahu with the measures he is taking in the crisis in Lebanon,” said Netanyahu’s office. Seeking more help from Netanyahu, the two leaders agreed to talk more in coming days, including visiting in Paris in early December. “The two leaders decided to speak again in the coming days and to meet in Paris at the beginning of next month,” continuing to brainstorm what can be done to get Hezbollah out of Lebanon. After years of infiltration and consolidating power in Lebanon’s parliament, Macron and Netanyahu won’t find it easy.
Speaking to Al-Arabiya new network, Hariri confirmed that Hezbollah has created a state-within-a-state. “Creating as state within as state,” Hariri said Hezbollah has usurped his power as prime minister. “Iran’s arm not just in Lebanon but in other Arab countries too,” said Hariri making to him a target for Hezbollah and Iran. Calling Hariri’s statements “unfounded accusations,” Tehran rejected Hariri’s comments, the first to call world attention to Iran’s insidious encroachment on a sovereign state. When Macron meets with Netanyahu, he’s hearing about how Ayatollah Ali Khaemenei’s government tries to infringe on sovereign states around the Middle East. There’s no nation other than Saudi Arabia that tried to check Iran’s growing influence through its Revolutionary Guards, al-Quds forces and Hezbollah militia. Macron and Netanyahu
get Iran’s influence.
Netayahu told Macron by telephone his concerns over Iran’s “attempts to set up bases in Syria and its activities in the region,” verifying Iran’s insidious influence on Mideast and North African sovereign states. Macron notified the U.S., Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Saudi Arabian Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres over his concerns about Hezbollah’s control of Lebanon. Flying Nov. 17 to Paris to meet with Macron contradicts Nasrallah’s smoke that Hariri was under Saudi detention. Flying freely to Paris, Hariri wants the world to know how Iran through Hezbollah has hijacked Lebanon’s sovereignty. Macron wants to discus Iran’s growing Mideast influence with the U.S., Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the U.N. Now allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin, any attempt to rein-in Tehran would be met with resistance.
Starting with the 2003 Iraq War, former President George W. Bush grossly miscalculated the fallout from toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Toppling Saddam April 10, 2003 opened the floodgates of Mideast terrorism in Iraq and the Middle East. Years of war played into Tehran’s hands, turning Saddam’s Baathist Sunni regime into a Shiite state aligned with Iraq. Hariri, who expects to return to Lebanon’s Independence Day Wednesday, Nov. 23, wants Iran and Hezbollah to stop meddling in Lebanon’s sovereignty. Calling Hariri’s resignation an “alarm call,” Netanyahu sized up the situation in Lebanon, pointing fingers at Tehran. Lebanon’s past leaders had skirmishes with Israel largely over Palestinian refugee problems, using Hezbollah as a defacto military. Today’s situation is different watching Iran take control of Lebanon’s parliament.
Hariri’s visit to Paris confirms what’s been known for some time that Hezbollah has taken over Lebanon’s sovereignty. With close ties to Ayatollah Khamenei, Hariri no longer has the sovereignty needed to run Lebanon without Hezbollah’s bullying. Colonizing Lebanon until Oct. 24, 1945, France has a vested interest in keeping Lebanon independent of foreign influence. With Hezbollah dominating Lebanon, Macron wants to meet with Netanyahu and confer with the U.S., Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the U.N. to find a solution to the current crisis. Bolting Lebanon to Riyadh, Hariri expressed his concerns from how Hezbollah’s threatens Lebanon’s sovereignty but also his life. Once a thriving multi-ethnic democracy, Lebanson faces authoritarian rule under Iran’s Hezbollah militia. Without some intervention from responsible parties, Lebanon’s destined for the Ayatollah’s orbit.
