Lebanese soldiers 'loyal to army and nation,' says army in response to Iranian statements

BEIRUT — The Lebanese Army responded Thursday to statements by an Iranian analyst, who was commenting on a speech by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and claimed that "30 percent of the troops" in Lebanon's ranks are members of Hezbollah, by affirming that Lebanese soldiers are "loyal to the army and the nation."

"A foreign website has circulated information regarding the affiliation and loyalty of certain military personnel to a specific party," the military said succinctly in its statement.

"The army command categorically denies this information and affirms that all its members have a clear and unwavering military doctrine and are fully loyal to the military institution and the nation," it added, calling not to "relay suspicious information intended to harm the army's reputation, especially during the sensitive period our country is currently experiencing."

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In an interview analyzing a speech by Khamenei, published at the end of November on his website, Iranian expert Hossein Mohammadi Sirat discussed the Basij model, an Iranian paramilitary force, and said that "the Hezbollah model is similar" to that of this group founded in 1979 by Khomeini.

"You see, today, 30 percent of the members of the Lebanese Army are members of Hezbollah. In the morning, they are in the army, in the afternoon in the resistance forces," he stated, sparking many angry reactions on social media.

The army is currently tasked with disarming Hezbollah, starting with the area south of the Litani River, and is facing significant pressure, both internally and from the United States, to swiftly accomplish this mission.

These pressures have resulted in more or less veiled threats from American officials and the cancellation of meetings in Washington between Trump administration officials and the Lebanese army commander-in-chief, Rodolphe Haykal.

The army is due to give its monthly progress report on disarmament operations to the government in the afternoon, during a Cabinet meeting.

For the first time, it shared with the media last Friday the results of its "Shield of the Nation" operation aimed at returning the monopoly over arms to official authorities, reporting in particular the neutralization of 177 tunnels and seizure of 566 rocket launchers.

Lebanese authorities committed in early August to reclaiming the monopoly on arms, meaning the arsenal of all remaining armed militias.

In its plan, the military intends to dismantle Hezbollah's arsenal south of the Litani by the end of 2025, before moving on to the rest of the country.

Hezbollah has so far not opposed the army's operations in the border area, it has however, refused to completely hand over its weapons.