Hezbollah's disarmament in Lebanon, a move aimed at weakening the Iranian regime
By the end of the year, Hezbollah will be disarmed, according to the commitment made on August 5 by the Lebanese authorities . A historic decision . Because after the civil war (1975-1990), the “party of God” was the only one to have kept its weapons in the name of “resistance” against Israel, which occupied southern Lebanon until 2000. Over the years, the Shiite formation had become a dominant player on the local and regional scene mainly thanks to the support of Iran.
However, this planned disarmament – which Hezbollah has rejected – is causing considerable concern in Tehran. Former Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Ahmad Dastmalchian, believes that the Lebanese government's choices remain under the influence of transregional actors, first and foremost the United States and France.
"Lebanon is based on fragile political and social balances, the breakdown of which could plunge the country into serious, unpredictable conflicts, or even chaos," he told Iran Newspaper , a government publication.
The former diplomat warns the Lebanese government against "American promises, which are rarely kept," and recalls in particular the attack in June by the United States against Iran, at the heart of recent nuclear negotiations.
Founded a few years after the Iranian Revolution, Hezbollah remains the largest armed group in the Middle East supported militarily and financially by Iran. Kayhan , an ultra-conservative newspaper in Tehran, sees Hezbollah's disarmament as part of a larger project led by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel to "shape the new Middle East."
"In the opinion of these three governments, the Resistance Front (pro-Iranian groups in the region, editor's note) will not be able to maintain its military, security, or even political superiority without weapons, and will gradually disappear," the daily warns from Tehran. The project is continuing simultaneously in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iraq, but also in Yemen, to ultimately limit Iran's power, Kayhan observes.
Already in mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, hitting military and nuclear sites and killing senior officers, nuclear scientists and several hundred other people.
“With Donald Trump coming to power in the United States, Israel sees the current situation as the best opportunity to establish the order it wants in the Middle East,” "The central objective of this project is to weaken Iran, which is considered the center of gravity of the axis of resistance," the moderate website Entekhab reports. According to the media outlet, "the first step was already taken during the recent attack on the country."
"Profound upheavals are looming, and Lebanon could descend into a devastating civil war, the flames of which could engulf other parts of the region," warns the Tehran-based daily Ettelaat .
The opposition media outlet Iran International , for its part, believes that the Islamic Republic " will lose one of its main levers of pressure on Israel and its influence over Lebanon's domestic politics" with Hezbollah's disarmament. Tehran will nevertheless do everything it can to halt this process, particularly by "creating new tensions or exacerbating the fracture in Lebanon," explains the London-based site.
“The Islamic Republic is prioritizing the consolidation of its influence in the Middle East, to the detriment of collective interests and lasting security, even if it means missing historic opportunities for peace and development,” predicts Iran International .
