Source: Kuwaiti opinion
It seems that a hot summer awaits Lebanon and the region, as tensions increase between Washington and Tehran, the approach of the American elections, and the increasing “harsh pressure” that the United States is exerting on Iran and Lebanon, as it tries to place the blame on Hezbollah for the financial failure that has reached the point of no return.
Iran and its staunchest ally in the region, Hizbullah, have decided to prevent Lebanese society from being pushed into starvation. Hence, it will not be surprising to see Iranian ships docking in the port of Latakia to provide Lebanon with food, energy and medicine.
Lebanon is similar to the province of Isfahan in terms of its needs and population, and therefore it will not be difficult for Tehran to organize a monthly stockpile of basic materials to prevent America from starving Lebanon.
If Iran can support Caracas across the Caribbean, providing Lebanon is much easier. This would defeat the attempt by America and Israel to bring Hezbollah to its knees.
The confrontation between Iran and the United States reached an unprecedented level when President Donald Trump decided to take advice from who is his “personal adviser”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Middle East affairs, especially after the unilateral agreement was violated, then killed Major General Qasim Soleimani and tried to find countries Unsuccessful in Syria and Iraq.
After all attempts to curtail Iran’s role failed, the American administration set out towards an economic “soft war” through sanctions after the “axis of resistance” managed to store accurate missiles that pose a direct threat to Israel in the event of war. Now it is Lebanon’s turn.
Today, Iran is working to provide its allies in Lebanon with four or five ships per month, including medicines, medical equipment, fuel, aluminum, food, and all that the Islamic Republic produces.
These materials can be sold to Lebanese companies that have the power to import, in order to sell them in the market at a low price and in the Lebanese currency without resorting to the American dollar.
Iran has signed an agreement with Syria that opens up to it a credit of one billion dollars, according to which it provides all the basic needs of its ally in terms of food, medicine and energy to enable the Syrian government to withstand the “Caesar’s Law.”
Iran is heading to Lebanon, where the US administration has accused Hezbollah of the deteriorating financial situation. However, the US ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, does not agree with her administration, as she said that “decades of corruption and mismanagement in the authority have brought Lebanon to its acute crisis.”
Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker followed suit by asserting that “years of corruption and the absence of radical reform measures are behind the deteriorating economic situation.” However, he added, “Customs evading Hezbollah is behind the losses of Lebanon.”
And what Schenker did not make clear is that Lebanon has a deficit of up to $ 110 billion and that the annual customs revenue is entered into the state’s treasury annually only 3 billion. Hence, the financial charges seemed weak.
Neither Iran nor Hezbollah feels responsible for starving America to the Lebanese people through its sanctions and closing trade borders with Syria due to the “Caesar Law”, in addition to the corruption that Lebanon witnessed since the 1990s until today through some of the participants in the government.
Iran does not want Hezbollah, its foster environment, and its supporters to feel the annoyance so that Israel does not seize the opportunity and wage war on Lebanon.
Consequently, it is ready to open a billion dollar credit to alleviate the critical economic situation, and to supply Lebanon with its products (not cash), and thus it will hand over food and oil shipments to its ally to spare Lebanon the fate of Venezuela because Lebanon entered into a very critical social tunnel.
America and Israel are trying to rely on the Lebanese uprising to direct these people against Hezbollah, to hold it responsible for the current crisis. But the likelihood of their success is very low.
Hezbollah appears to have several options to confront starvation, including the military option if necessary. Pressure on him will generate an explosion, he and his foster environment, especially that he always behaves as if he is responsible for her security and social condition.
Hezbollah was not a partner in corruption in any government in which it participated since 2005 until today, but it has always worked to protect its environment, as it did in 2006, when Israel destroyed large parts of the Shiite regions, with the direct support of Iran to rebuild many of them.
Hezbollah owns dozens of petrol stations under the name “Amanah”, “Al-Mortada” pharmacies and other companies that have the right to import to sell at low prices what they receive from Iran to the Hezbollah public and even to those who do not support them, since the Lebanese people are politically different and divided their opinions and positions.
And if America and Israel believe they can stop Iranian food support, there is no doubt that Hezbollah will not hesitate to use military force to impose a new base of engagement. He may resort to bombing targets in Israel for every bombing against any convoy, even if there are no casualties.
What America and Israel do not expect is that whoever sustains the Lebanese economy and food and meets the basic needs of the population wins popular support. This may lead to the possibility of amending the constitution, especially after the continuous collapse of the local currency, so that the people will be the source of the decision, and consequently matters will not return to their previous times. Thus, the results are certain that Israel and America would not have taken them into consideration when they chose Lebanon as a battleground to fight Iran.
