Lebanese Foreign Minister Joe Raggi. AFP file photo
Lebanese Foreign Minister Joe Rajji said the Lebanon file must be ‘’separated from the Iranian issue’’ in the ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran, as the war between Hezbollah and Israel continues and Tehran has made a cease-fire in Lebanon a key condition for any broader agreement with Washington.
‘’The issue of Lebanon must be separated from the Iranian issue. We do not accept that anyone negotiate on our behalf or sign agreements in our name. That would inevitably be to our detriment,’’ Rajji said in an interview with Le Figaro published Friday.
’’It is also a matter of the country's sovereignty and the independence of our decisions. Moreover, the courageous decision of the president of the republic to negotiate directly with Israel under American auspices has proven that we can pursue an independent path,’’ he added.
The foreign minister said Lebanon could free itself from Hezbollah without the fall of the Iranian regime ‘’if adequate decisions are made, with the support of the international community.’’
According to Rajji, ‘’on the ground, Hezbollah is strategically and militarily completely defeated. But it still controls a large part of what is called the deep state.’’
In that context, he said ‘’the government, whose decisions are very courageous, is forced to move forward slowly, step by step, to avoid internal friction.’’
’’We are not calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah to please Israel, the Americans or the international community ... We simply want to live in a normal country. It is clear that an armed organization that has infiltrated the state is an obstacle to that,’’ he added.
Regionally, Rajji said the Iranian regime should change.
’’At the beginning of the year, 30,000 people were killed in just a few days. Even today, Iranians are executed every day and no one talks about it. Poor Iranian people ! The regime should change, first and foremost for them. But no one can do it in their place,’’ he said.
Rajji’s remarks drew criticism Saturday from the Iranian Embassy in Lebanon.
’’Do not be mistaken in your understanding and assessment of the Iranian people, the regime and the state that our people love, and be realistic. For more than a hundred days, public squares across our dear and powerful country, spanning 1,648,195 square kilometers, have been filled with massive crowds representing all segments of society, women, men, the elderly, youth and children, in defense of the Islamic Republic system,’’ the embassy said.
