Lebanese Former Premiers Criticize Aoun’s Tone Towards Hariri

Lebanese President Aoun and PM-designate Hariri meet at the presidential palace on Thursday. (Dalati & Nohra)
Lebanese President Aoun and PM-designate Hariri meet at the presidential palace on Thursday. (Dalati & Nohra)
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Lebanese Former Premiers Criticize Aoun’s Tone Towards Hariri

Lebanese President Aoun and PM-designate Hariri meet at the presidential palace on Thursday. (Dalati & Nohra)
Lebanese President Aoun and PM-designate Hariri meet at the presidential palace on Thursday. (Dalati & Nohra)

Lebanese former Prime Ministers Najib Mikati, Fouad Siniora and Tammam Salam deplored President Michel Aoun’s behavior towards Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, accusing him of “distorting the constitution”.

They instead underlined the need to form a government that enjoys the confidence of the Lebanese people.

In a statement following a meeting held in the absence of Hariri, the former premiers expressed their regret over “the method adopted by His Excellency the President of the Republic, who is the head of state and a symbol of the nation’s unity, in addressing the Prime Minister-designate through a televised statement, while the agreed principles require direct communication between them, especially as the country is going through a fateful crisis.”

The former premiers emphasized the “sense of high responsibility expressed by Prime Minister designate Saad Hariri… by countering repeated attempts to drag him into quarrels and media disputes, which could have destroyed the remaining credibility of the falling state.”

Calling on Aoun to abide by the constitution, they said that Article 53 pertaining to the powers of the President of the Republic to form the government, stipulates that the president “shall issue the decree forming the government in agreement with the prime minister.”

“It did not say ‘form’, but rather ‘issue’,” they emphasized.

The former premiers underlined that the task of formation was “entrusted, according to the second paragraph of Article 64, to the designated prime minister based on the confidence granted to him by the parliamentary majority…”

In a televised speech on Wednesday, Aoun asked Hariri to form a new government immediately or make way for someone else.

A meeting was held between the two top officials the following day, after which the premier-designate expressed a more positive tone, saying another meeting was scheduled for Monday and that he saw “an opportunity to be seized”.



Barrack Says Hezbollah Involvement in Iran-Israel War Would Be 'Very Bad Decision'

A handout photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on June 19, 2025 shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) welcoming US negotiator Thomas Barrack at the presidential palace of Baabda east of Beirut. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
A handout photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on June 19, 2025 shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) welcoming US negotiator Thomas Barrack at the presidential palace of Baabda east of Beirut. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
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Barrack Says Hezbollah Involvement in Iran-Israel War Would Be 'Very Bad Decision'

A handout photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on June 19, 2025 shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) welcoming US negotiator Thomas Barrack at the presidential palace of Baabda east of Beirut. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
A handout photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on June 19, 2025 shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) welcoming US negotiator Thomas Barrack at the presidential palace of Baabda east of Beirut. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)

The US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack on Thursday warned Hezbollah against getting involved in the war between its main backer Iran and Israel.

"I can say on behalf of President (Donald) Trump... that would be a very, very, very bad decision," Barrack said, responding to a question on what the US position would be on any involvement by Hezbollah in the war.

Barrack met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at Baabda Palace and Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh.

Hezbollah on Thursday expressed support for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei following threats by Israeli leaders that he could be killed.

In a statement, Hezbollah said that “threats to assassinate (Khamenei) are foolish and reckless, and will have disastrous consequences.”

Israel's defense minister said that Khamenei "can no longer be allowed to exist" after an Israeli hospital was hit during an Iranian missile attack.

"Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed -- he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals. He considers the destruction of the state of Israel to be a goal," Israel Katz told journalists in Holon near Tel Aviv. "Such a man can no longer be allowed to exist."
 

Killing Khamenei would "end the conflict" between Israel and Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.