President Joseph Aoun. Archive photo Ani
The interview given Friday by President Joseph Aoun to the American network CNN sparked the first reactions in Lebanon and abroad. In the interview, the president of the Republic notably accused Iran of using Lebanon as a "bargaining chip" in its standoff with Washington, urging Tehran, Hezbollah's sponsor, to end its interference in Lebanon's domestic affairs, while reminding it: "This is not your country, it's ours." In a rare criticism also targeting Hezbollah's secretary-general, Aoun argued that Naim Qassem "does not represent the Lebanese people." The latter had just rejected the latest cease-fire agreement in Lebanon announced Wednesday in Washington, calling it a "capitulation" and a "defeat" and demanding a cease-fire and a withdrawal of Israelis from southern Lebanon. Israel and Lebanon had agreed Wednesday to "implement a cease-fire" and create "pilot zones" under control of the Lebanese army, after two days of talks in Washington.
"I declare my total support for the position of the president," wrote Fouad Makhzoumi, an anti-Hezbollah MP from Beirut, on his X account. "Lebanon has an elected head of state, institutions, and an army. And it is only through these that it makes a national decision," he said, before adding: "As for the decision of peace and war, no armed group affiliated with an external party has the right to confiscate it. Sovereignty and peace rest exclusively with the Lebanese state and the negotiations it conducts in the name of Lebanon, not in the name of a regional project," the parliamentarian added.
Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel, for his part, considered that Aoun's statements "help restore the dignity of the state." "For the first time, we hear words of such clarity and patriotism," he added. "We are at the dawn of a new era in which we are regaining our dignity. This dynamic will lead to the building of a state that reflects us. We must support legitimacy so that this approach continues and so we can regain the hope of a better future," he said.
In turn, and in a rather rare move, Amos Hochstein, former U.S. special envoy and architect of the November 2024 cease-fire, welcomed Joseph Aoun's remarks. "Well said, Mr. President. It is the Lebanese, not Iran or anyone else, who should decide Lebanon's fate. Likewise, only the Lebanese army should defend it, and no armed force, internal or external, should be deployed in the country."
Meanwhile, as Hezbollah has not officially responded to the head of state's remarks, Jaafarite Mufti Ahmad Qabalan (an unofficial Hezbollah spokesperson) took up the task. "He who represents his people does not accept that the inhabitants of the South evacuate. And he who forbids the army from defending the country then calls for the resistance to withdraw from south of the Litani, without a simultaneous Israeli withdrawal, does not represent Lebanon," he said, addressing the president.
