A senior Christian Lebanese political figure publicly accused Hezbollah of acting as an Iranian proxy and urged Lebanese authorities to confront Tehran’s influence in Lebanon.
Ibrahim El Sakr, a Lebanese Forces official, said during a television interview that Hezbollah’s behavior after reports that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed demonstrated that the organization operates as an Iranian faction rather than a Lebanese movement. According to El Sakr, the reaction showed that Hezbollah answers directly to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and operates from within the Iranian diplomatic presence in Lebanon.
El Sakr called on the Lebanese army to surround the Iranian embassy in Beirut and detain the Iranian ambassador for questioning. He argued that anyone proven to have contributed to the destruction and instability in Lebanon should face arrest and prosecution.
The Lebanese official also urged President Joseph Aoun to take a dramatic diplomatic step similar to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s historic outreach to Israel. El Sakr suggested that the Lebanese president travel to the Israeli Knesset and pursue a “land for peace” agreement with Israel.
