President Joseph Aoun in Baabda on Feb. 11, 2025. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
BEIRUT — In an interview with CNN, President Joseph Aoun on Friday accused Iran of using Lebanon as a "bargaining chip" in its showdown with Washington, urging Tehran — Hezbollah's sponsor — to stop interfering in Lebanon's internal affairs, while reminding it: "This is not your country, it's ours."
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that "the fate of the war between Iran and the United States is not separate from that of the fight in Lebanon." During the interview, Aoun "completely" rejected these remarks, reminding: "Our people are being killed, our homes are being destroyed. They [the Iranians] use Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiations with the United States. This is unacceptable."
Considering that "Iran's interests do not align with those of Lebanon," the president affirmed that "the Lebanese people are paying the price" for Iran's policies, before addressing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps: "This is not your country, it's ours." Speaking to Iranian leaders, he added: "Your role is not to meddle in our country, you're not trying to help us. The Lebanese people are paying the price for your own interests." Aoun once again defended the choice of diplomacy, stressing that "Hezbollah must understand there is no other way than to sit and talk, no other way to solve this problem and save what is left, except through negotiation and diplomacy."
To Qassem: 'The Lebanese people are not your people'
In a rare criticism of Hezbollah's secretary-general, Aoun asserted that Naim Qassem "does not represent the Lebanese people." Qassem recently rejected the latest cease-fire agreement announced Wednesday in Washington, calling it a "capitulation" and a "defeat," and demanding a cease-fire and withdrawal of Israelis from southern Lebanon. Israel and Lebanon had agreed Wednesday to "implement a cease-fire" and to establish "pilot zones" under the control of the Lebanese army, after two days of talks in Washington.
"The Lebanese people are not your people," Aoun said to the party that launched missiles into Israel on March 2 in retaliation for the U.S-Israeli killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Israel's attacks on Lebanon between March 2 and June 5 have killed 3,558 people and wounded 10,870 others, according to the latest Health Ministry figures.
Aoun also said he had spoken with Lebanese of various faiths, including Shiites, who told him of their "fatigue" with the war led by Hezbollah against Israel. "We have had enough and we want to live in peace. They [the Lebanese] deserve to live in peace and dignity. They deserve not to see their homes destroyed every five to ten years," he said, adding that the Lebanese counted on him to end the war. Aoun also said that entire families had been "decimated" by Israeli attacks. "These are Lebanese. They are not Naim Qassem's people," he added.
Message to the Israelis
The president also addressed the Israelis, urging them to prioritize dialogue over "military solutions." "Haven't you had enough of war since 1948? Do you really want to live in peace? Then let's sit down and talk," he said. Arguing that "it is time for the strength of reason to prevail over the reason of force," Aoun asserted that military operations will "never guarantee security" for residents of northern Israel. He added that Lebanon was ready to sit at the negotiating table to end the conflict, pointing out that people on both sides of the border were "tired of the war." However, he called on Israel to show "genuine will" and "real commitment" to end the war, "for the sake of the peoples on both sides of the border."
"We are ready, we are willing, we are committed. Are you? If you are not, you will never live in peace, safety and security," he continued, adding that the state of hostility between Lebanon and Israel should end "once and for all." The president strongly criticized the Israeli military strategy, applied under the pretext of dismantling Hezbollah, saying the Hezbollah issue "can only be resolved by the Lebanese state after Israel’s withdrawal from the South, and the conflict can only end through negotiations." He reaffirmed his willingness to continue dialogue with Hezbollah toward its disarmament. "I will try to negotiate with them and convince them with reason," Aoun said. "They will eventually be convinced, but the cost will be high."
More generally, the president said he preferred "negotiations to wars," adding that he did not want his children, nor the Lebanese people, to live through the same suffering caused by past wars. "The best way forward is the path of diplomacy," he insisted.
Determined to seek a way out of the war, the president also declared that "nothing is impossible." "My duty is to save the country, and I am determined to do it. I will do whatever it takes. When there is a will, there is always a way," he said, while emphasizing that a conflict of more than forty years could not be solved overnight. "We must fight to save what is left of the country," he stressed.
A 'useless war'
Aoun then said that neither side could achieve its goals by force, and that both were engaged in a "useless war" that would allow neither side to achieve the objectives they seek. "They can raze the entire country, destroy it, invade it, but they will never achieve their objectives," he continued, referring to the Israelis. "Conversely, Hezbollah may drag the country into a prolonged war, but it too will never achieve its goals," he assured, adding that "it's time both sides sit down and talk."
While the head of state did not rule out the possibility of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he specified that such a meeting would "not happen until an agreement [ending the war] is concluded." The former army chief also felt that the Lebanese and Israeli people now have "a tremendous opportunity" to live in safety, saying they now must choose between "war or diplomacy." Finally, referring to the ongoing negotiations, Aoun acknowledged they are "difficult," but maintained that "major progress" had been made, adding that the agreement could pave the way for "a just and lasting peace."
