Gemayel denounces 'Iranian interference' in Lebanon

BEIRUT — Kataeb Party leader and MP Samy Gemayel reiterated his party's rejection of all Iranian statements on Monday after a meeting at the Grand Serail with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and called on the country to "treat Lebanon with more respect," following Iran's opposition to Hezbollah's disarmament.

On Saturday, an advisor to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had stated that his country "certainly" opposed the Lebanese government's decision to disarm Hezbollah.

"The Kataeb Party categorically rejects all Iranian statements, whether they come from Khamenei's advisor, the foreign minister, his deputy, or commanders of the Revolutionary Guards," the statement, published on Kataeb's website reads, "because they represent a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and an infringement on the decision-making of the Lebanese state."

The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, is expected in Beirut on Wednesday, a visit that has angered Kataeb MP Elias Hankache, who was also present at the Gemayel-Salam meeting.

"These statements are rejected both in form and in substance," Gemayel continued, "Iran must respect Lebanon's decision, sovereignty, and interests."

"Lebanon has paid a heavy price for Iran's policy," he argued, "And its direct interference through the funding and arming of Hezbollah and its training for battles whose cost all Lebanese have paid."

Gemayel also addressed the deaths of six Lebanese soldiers who died on Saturday in an explosion while dismantling a weapons depot near Sour district's Majdel Zoun village, saying they "made sacrifices for the sovereignty and legitimacy of Lebanon, and for the establishment of state authority over the whole of its territory."

The soldiers' deaths "make it necessary to continue working to enforce the authority of the state over all its land," Gemayel said. It is still unclear whether the weapons depot in question belonged to Hezbollah.

Gemayel also praised Salam, who himself announced plans for Hezbollah's disarmament after Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, for his "firmness and his courageous stances."

"Today, the challenges before him are certainly great, but we are convinced that with his presence, that of His Excellency the President [Joseph Aoun], and the ministers in the government, we have a historic opportunity for Lebanon to recover once again," Gemayel said.

The Lebanese Army was mandated by Cabinet last week to devise a plan, by the end of August, to ensure the state's monopoly on arms before the end of 2025.