Jaafarite Mufti Ahmad Qabalan. (Credit: NNA)
Jaafarite Mufti Ahmad Qabalan, who is close to Hezbollah, said on Monday that following the U.S.-Iran deal, which he considered as an "Iranian victory," that "must change the government" if he wants to govern, and form a "strong partnership" with Hezbollah and the Amal Movement.
The United States and Iran reached an agreement on Monday to immediately end the war in the Middle East on all fronts, including Lebanon, with a signing ceremony scheduled for Friday in Geneva.
"Because the factors that brought the pro-Washington camp to power have ended with this war, the current government must be changed calmly and within national balances," Qabalan said, according to a statement relayed by the state-run National News Agency.
"Aoun must also withdraw from direct negotiations with Israel, which lost the war of the century," he added. The Lebanese-Israeli direct negotiations, which have been taking place in Washington since April, were repeatedly criticized by Hezbollah and the Amal Movement.
"With the historic Washington–Tehran agreement, we are now facing a Middle East shaped by Iranian conditions," Qabalan said.
He also considered that the "notion that ‘no one negotiates on behalf of Lebanon’ has collapsed," as a result of the deal. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam had acknowledged the impact on Lebanon of negotiations taking place in Islamabad but reaffirmed the country's determination to negotiate as an independent state that ‘’no one represents in its place.’’
Despite his call for changing the government, Qabalan said that the "resistance's focus today is on civil peace, the Lebanese family, national partnership, strengthening the sovereign role of the state, and reviving political life."
Furthermore, he said that any Israeli delay in concerning the timeline of its withdrawal from Lebanon will be "settled swiftly by the resistance and Iranian missiles."
Earlier on Monday, Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said that "Israel will not withdraw from the territories it has seized in Lebanon, and if Iran attacks Israel because of the events in Lebanon, Israel will retaliate."
