Tehran Times – The corruption and issues that we face today in Lebanon are consequences of a 30-year legacy inherited by Hassan Diab’s government. The problems in Lebanon, especially the massive explosion at Beirut’s port on August 4, all are rooted in one thing and that is that the U.S., Israel, and Saudi Arabia are venting their anger against the Lebanese nation who endorsed Hezbollah. The biggest Shia victory during the history happened in these two countries as the resistance movement won the elections last year.
In Iraq, Adil Abdul-Mahdi came into power, and simultaneously some protests began in the country. No wonder that the U.S. Israel and Saudi Arabia are angry for dollars that they have spent in these countries to install their own government, not Hezbollah who won the elections without a little financial support.
There is a point here that the minority in Lebanon and Iraq try to force the majority to accept their favored governments. In Lebanon, a minority with 500 to 600 people, comes into the street and sparks unrest and destroys everything to oust the government; in other words, to force the prime minister and all his ministers to resign.
It is also true in Iraq. They have committed several crimes. It can be said that Abdul-Mahdi was the best prime minister after the collapse of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003. Killing a 16-year-old and stringing up the corpse by his feet from a traffic pole, brutally killing two brothers, and setting an ambulance on fire are amongst the crimes that were committed by attackers in Iraq.
In Lebanon, they punish people. They have spent millions of dollars and cannot tolerate the winning of the resistance movement who reveals their 30 years of corruption. The Westerners and Israel do not want anybody to do anything for the Lebanese. In their view, no government should provide facilities for the Lebanese people. They should not have electricity and potable water.
They should always be concerned about their daily life since if they do not have any problem they would think about the freedom of Quds, independence, and development. In this case, they turn from a consumer to a producer. Hence, they are not in favor of a government that yearns for economic development and provides people with basic services like electricity, water, and gas, which are provided in almost all countries worldwide. During the past 30 years, the Lebanese have been fighting with these problems and they do not have time to think about their goals in tranquility.
Lebanon also experienced 30 years of corruption. Diab yearned to fight with corruption inherited from Gemayel, Hariri, and others over the past decades. Lebanon’s money and capital were being looted and Diab wanted to reveal these facts, which is not approved by others.
Six months ago, they [opponents in Lebanon] created some economic problems and asked the U.S. to impose sanctions on Lebanon just like Syria. Lebanon is a consumer country and its national market share is about 10 percent, and all items are imported. They asked companies not to provide some items for the Lebanese market, which threaten the economy of the country. Then there were some banking problems and the sharp fall of lira against dollar (which has reached from 1500 to 10,000 lira per one dollar). The 8-month government confronted several obstacles since it sought to be a producer instead of a consumer. It also wants to fight corruption. The government aims to implement a resistance economy just like Iran.
On the other hand, the U.S. imposed an ambassador on Lebanon to order the government not to buy goods and fuels from Iran and China. Chinese companies should not invest in the country and they should not cooperate in building dams and power plants. Fortunately, the U.S. has no embassy in Iran and it is one of the blessings for the Islamic Republic. It is due to this fact that the U.S. cannot interfere in the domestic affairs of Iran.
The victory of the resistance movement annoys the U.S. since it is a political defeat in addition to their several military failures in recent years.
In Yemen, they have been struggling for five years, although they wanted to restore their favored government in a few months. Yemenis are resisting during these years. In Syria, the U.S. along with the rest of the world made serious attempts to overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad, however, the resistance movement stood strong and today the Assad government is in power and the U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have suffered humiliating defeats. In 2006, Israel was defeated in Lebanon. Hence, they decided not to engage in military conflicts anymore and replace it with economic and media war. Now they are on the economic war in Iran. Unfortunately, the media war is their strength but our weak point.
The most savage terrorist group in the world, Daesh, just like the Coronavirus, terrified the entire world. However, Iran defeated Daesh but unfortunately, our media did not cover it correctly. We should commemorate the defeat day of Daesh but nobody knows such a date. On the other hand, flying of an American plane in the sky of each country is covered by the U.S. media as their victory. Iranians celebrate winning of Iran Football National Team in World Cup 2018 but nobody informs them about the victory of Iran against Daesh.
As you see in Lebanon and Syria, people voted for the resistance movement and demonstrated one of the biggest Shia victories. However, a minority of 5 to 10 percent protested and wanted to decide about the government on the streets by pushing for another election. Their activities are well covered by the media. Unfortunately, we do not have such media power.
The massive explosion at Beirut’s port would not be the last action they take to weaken the resistance movement. Investigation into the assassination of Rafiq Hariri is going on for 15 years to convict Hezbollah to initiate a civil war.
The recent explosion in Beirut is related to Najib Mikati and Saad Hariri and Tammam Salam. However, those media that are supported by the U.S., Israel, and Saudi Arabia claimed that the place where the explosion took place was used as a chemicals stockpile by Hezbollah, which is thoroughly nonsense. It is nonsensical because Hezbollah never built a stockpile in such a place. The warehouse is seven years old. The media and cyberspace are so powerful that they can portray the government as against the nation’s will.
In Iraq and Lebanon people voted for the resistance movement. The opponents revolted against people for their votes. They weaken the economy and create an unsafe and insecure situation to make people not to vote for the resistance movement next time. There was no fraud in Lebanon’s election, however they began to take vent their anger against people for their election failure.
This is a big picture of what is going on in Lebanon these days. Diab’s government was forced to resign because all ministers wanted to resign. The 10 percent minority which controls the media influences public opinion in Lebanon and Iraq.
We pray for the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in Iran and Hezbollah Secretary-General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon who stand against provocations in the region. Nasrallah asked people not to confront protestors despite all the insults against him since he believed that any confrontation would not benefit the resistance movement.
All these problems are because Israel considers the victory of the resistance movement as an immediate threat. Their investment in the election was not fruitful hence they want to repeat the election to bring their favored government into power. However, God vows that Hezbollah will be the winner.
by Mehdi Shojaeian
