More than 400 Lebanese public figures, including politicians, religious leaders, and other prominent figures, have declared their support for a campaign advocating Lebanese sovereignty in opposition to both Iranian interference and the Israeli presence in the country on Monday.
The ‘A Call to Save Lebanon’ initiative asserts the need for civilians to publicly support Beirut, legitimate institutions, diplomatic processes and an end to both Iranian interference and Israel’s presence in southern Lebanon. Notably, this end to Iranian interference calls for only state actors to hold arms, addressing the yet-to-be-implemented March law ordering the demilitarization of the Iran-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah.
Founded in 1982 with the support of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah has long drawn the country into its battle against Israel, a battle that has seen it assassinate members of Lebanon’s own leadership. Frustrations reached a boiling point in early March when the terrorist organization dragged the country into another war, this time in an apparent response to the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which left many voicing that the group represented Iranian interests, not the Lebanese.
The A Call to Save Lebanon coincides with Beirut’s talks in Washington regarding a ceasefire with Israel, discussions set to go ahead despite the Islamic Republic absorbing a ceasefire on the Lebanese front in its Memorandum of Understanding with the United States.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, in an open letter addressed to US Vice-President JD Vance, said that Hezbollah had caused significant difficulties for Christians in the otherwise diverse and culturally rich Lebanon.
'Iran does not represent interests or aspirations of the Lebanon'
While thanking Vance for his work, Geagea accusing Hezbollah of usurping “national decision-making, weakened legitimate institutions, prevented the establishment of an effective and capable state, and furthermore, embroiled Lebanon in conflicts and wars linked to Iranian agendas that do not represent the interests or aspirations of the Lebanese,” and requested that Washington affirm its support for the legitimate authorities in Lebanese by removing foreign powers of the country’s decision-making processes.
Fouad Makhzoumi, a parliamentarian and president of the non-sectarian National Dialogue Party, published in a statement, “Lebanon cannot reclaim its sovereignty and independent national decision-making as long as Hezbollah’s weapons remain outside the authority of the state, and as long as decisions of war and peace are made outside the country’s legitimate institutions.”
Makhzoumi called on state authorities “to deploy the Lebanese Army throughout the Nabatieh region and along the areas adjacent to positions that remain under Israeli control, in order to prevent any military actions or provocations that could provide Israel with additional pretexts to expand its military presence.”
Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel asserted that it was not possible for the Lebanese people to continue to coexist with an armed Hezbollah, regardless of any external negotiations, and argued that Iran’s inclusion of a ceasefire in Lebanon deal is a tactic to preserve its military control there.
“Most Lebanese are not prepared to live as hostages to Hezbollah. We will live in peace on our land, in safety, freedom, and dignity, and we will not go back—and this will be the end of the sorrows,” he asserted.
Speaking at a press conference, he stressed: “Lebanon sacrificed ten times what Iran did during the war as confirmed by Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.”
“The Lebanese state must demonstrate to the world that it exists and that it speaks and acts. It is time for the Lebanese army to implement decisions. No more excuses,” he added.