Lebanon’s National Initiative Movement warned on Saturday that the security of the country and other Arab states has for years been the victim of an ongoing offensive led by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and its affiliated militias, starting with “Hezbollah.”
It therefore called for a national “rise” to fortify the Taef Accord, constitution and coexistence and to confront destabilizing practices on the national and Arab scenes.
The Movement, which was formed in September, condemned “Hezbollah’s” internal and foreign policies and repeated Iranian assaults and conspiracies against Arab security, noting that the majority of these attacks have been launched from Lebanon.
“The previous Lebanese governments had at every Iranian attack inside Lebanon or against Arab neighbors claimed ignorance,” it added.
It singled out the Baabda Declaration, announced in 2011 during the term of former President Michel Suleiman, as one of the only example of confronting Iranian meddling. The Declaration calls for disassociating Lebanon from regional crises.
“Soon after however, ‘Hezbollah’, which had initially agreed to the Declaration, violated it and headed towards fighting the Syrian people and behind them all the Arabs,” continued the National Initiative Movement in a statement.
The Iranian violations continued during the term of current President Michel Aoun, who had repeatedly announced that “Hezbollah” was needed in southern Lebanon, which is a “blatant” violation of international resolutions that protect Lebanon.
It also condemned his repeated declarations that “the party’s militia was needed until the crisis in the Middle East was over.”
The Movement hailed Saudi Arabia for resorting to the Arab League and international community in order to defend its security and that of the Arabs against “Iranian militia infiltration.” It noted how Riyadh had confronted Iranian sabotage attempts in each of Bahrain, Kuwait and Yemen.
The statement stressed that it is “no longer acceptable that Lebanon remain a danger to itself and its Arab brothers.”
