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Iran to Propose Providing Air Defense System to Lebanese Army

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif. (AP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif. (AP)
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Iran to Propose Providing Air Defense System to Lebanese Army

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif. (AP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif. (AP)

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif is expected to pay a two-day visit to Lebanon later this week to meet with senior officials, as well as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The trip comes in wake of Nasrallah’s recent announcement that Tehran was ready to offer Lebanon arms and funds. He did not disclose further details about the proposal.

A diplomatic source said that Zarif would discuss with officials a proposal to provide the Lebanese army with an Iranian air defense system, which according to Nasrallah would make the military “the strongest in the region.”

The minister is scheduled to hold talks on Sunday and Monday with President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil.

The source said that Zarif will also explain to officials Tehran’s stance on its conflict with the United States, saying that any American attack on Iranian positions will incur a violent retaliation.

Nasrallah had said: “We will be involved in any war on Iran.”

Asharq Al-Awsat approached Defense Minister Elias Bou Saab to comment on Nasrallah’s speech. He revealed that he had not yet had the time to address it because he had just returned to Lebanon from a trip to Washington.

“At any rate,” he added, “I support anyone who helps in arming the military if it is needed.”

Iran had originally officially proposed arming the military in 2014 during a trip by then Defense Minister Samir Moqbel to Tehran where he visited weapons factories.

Iranian officials had suggested that the minister list the needs of the Lebanese military so that they could be provided by Tehran.

Indeed, Moqbel presented a report on the matter to cabinet, but discussions over the issue came to halt after the US threatened to halt its armament and training to the Lebanese army.

An informed minister expected that Beirut will take its time in responding to Zarif’s proposal should he present it.

He may, on the other hand, renew his country’s offer to provide Lebanon will electrical power.

Nasrallah had addressed this issue during a speech Wednesday when he revealed that Tehran could provide Lebanon with its power needs in less than a year and at low costs.

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Lebanon’s Supreme Defense Council Urges Hamas to Hand Over Suspects in Rocket Attacks

Lebanese Army personnel at the site of an Israeli strike targeting a militant group leader south of Beirut last week (AFP).
Lebanese Army personnel at the site of an Israeli strike targeting a militant group leader south of Beirut last week (AFP).
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Lebanon’s Supreme Defense Council Urges Hamas to Hand Over Suspects in Rocket Attacks

Lebanese Army personnel at the site of an Israeli strike targeting a militant group leader south of Beirut last week (AFP).
Lebanese Army personnel at the site of an Israeli strike targeting a militant group leader south of Beirut last week (AFP).

A senior Lebanese source has revealed that authorities will demand Hamas to hand over remaining individuals implicated in recent rocket attacks launched from Kfartebnit and Qaqaiyat al-Jisr—two towns located north of the Litani River, overlooking southern Lebanon—toward the Israeli settlements of Metula and Kiryat Shmona. The suspects are also believed to have stored rockets and launchers in a warehouse raided by the Lebanese Army, which seized several of the weapons, some prepared for imminent use.
The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that this demand will top the agenda of the first meeting of the Supreme Defense Council, scheduled for Friday and to be chaired by President Joseph Aoun.
The Council is also expected to discuss the security situation in southern Lebanon amid Beirut’s unilateral commitment to the ceasefire agreement, contrasted by what it views as Israel’s noncompliance. The session will further address recent incidents in which local residents blocked UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) from entering certain villages, citing the lack of coordination with the Lebanese Army. Additional topics include logistical, administrative, and security preparations by the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities ahead of the first round of municipal elections in Mount Lebanon this coming Sunday.
According to the source, the Lebanese Army’s intelligence directorate has, under judicial supervision, compiled a list of wanted Hamas members based on interrogations with detained suspects involved in the rocket attacks.
The source did not rule out the possibility that the suspects may have sought refuge in Palestinian refugee camps, particularly Ain al-Hilweh in southern Lebanon, where Hamas may be protecting them in neighborhoods controlled by extremist factions.
The source argued that Palestinian weapons have lost their original purpose of defending against Israeli attacks and are now largely used for internal conflict and endangering nearby communities.
Disarming Palestinian groups inside the camps, the source said, aligns with the insistence of both Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s government that all arms remain under the state’s authority. The matter is also expected to feature prominently in upcoming talks between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and Lebanese officials during his mid-month visit to Beirut.
On broader security concerns, the source noted that Lebanon is stepping up containment measures around the camps to prevent the militarization of nearby towns, especially those close to the Litani River.
Regarding Sunday’s Israeli airstrike on a warehouse in Beirut’s southern suburb, the source confirmed that the Lebanese Army had received no prior warning through the United States. Instead, Lebanese officials learned of the strike via media reports. This prompted Aoun to make urgent calls to several countries, including the US and France, which are considered guarantors of the ceasefire agreement. Subsequent information reportedly disproved Israel’s stated justification for the attack.