Europe using Iran deal to repair relations with Hezbollah
November 28, 2013 12:28 AM
By Antoine Ghattas Saab
The Daily Star
Despite poor relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran undermining political solutions in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, some European states have reformulated their foreign policy to welcome the Western-Iranian rapprochement and use it to rebuild relations with elements of Hezbollah. French Ambassador to Lebanon Patrick Paoli hosted a dinner three weeks ago honoring Hezbollah MPs Ali Fayyad and Nawwar Saheli as well the party’s international affairs official Ammar Moussawi, an event that drew the attention of observers.
The dinner was part of the ongoing communication between the two sides since the European Union’s decision to blacklist Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist organization.
Sources in Hezbollah told The Daily Star that the meeting was Europe laying the groundwork to reverse the boycott of a political party that has national and regional influence, at a time when takfiri and fundamentalist movements have grown.
The sources said Hezbollah’s position would improve on the internal, Arab and regional stage after the signing of a Western-Iranian agreement.
They said the party would have a role within major regional settlements, which they said were launched as a result of a major Russian push, adding that an accord at the Geneva II peace conference between all involved powers and Syrian factions had a great chance of being the crowning achievement of the Russian initiative.
The sources said that time was of the essence in resolving the Syrian crisis with the approach of the country’s presidential elections.
Hezbollah sources said the discovery of a car rigged with a large amount of explosives between the Baalbek towns of Younin and Maqneh last week was the result of serious cooperation among security, military and judicial agencies as well as the party.
This was aided by the fact that the Bekaa Valley’s villages are considered the first line in repelling the plans and attacks by takfiri groups, according to the sources, who said that members of the Hezbollah-affiliated Resistance Brigades are spread throughout the region and carry out surveillance of the border with Syria as part of the party’s efforts to protect its environment and supporters.
Sources denied that the party had used its Ayyoub unmanned drone to track the rigged car, and said the Lebanese Army had the technical capability to find the required information, in addition to data from Russian and Chinese satellites.
The Hezbollah sources said that this proved the importance of the axis reaching from Russia to Iran, Syria and the resistance in Lebanon in combating waves of extremism and terrorism, reaffirming the need to return to the “golden triangle” of the people, Army and the resistance.
Europe using Iran deal to repair relations with Hezbollah | News , Lebanon News | THE DAILY STAR
November 28, 2013 12:28 AM
By Antoine Ghattas Saab
The Daily Star
Despite poor relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran undermining political solutions in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, some European states have reformulated their foreign policy to welcome the Western-Iranian rapprochement and use it to rebuild relations with elements of Hezbollah. French Ambassador to Lebanon Patrick Paoli hosted a dinner three weeks ago honoring Hezbollah MPs Ali Fayyad and Nawwar Saheli as well the party’s international affairs official Ammar Moussawi, an event that drew the attention of observers.
The dinner was part of the ongoing communication between the two sides since the European Union’s decision to blacklist Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist organization.
Sources in Hezbollah told The Daily Star that the meeting was Europe laying the groundwork to reverse the boycott of a political party that has national and regional influence, at a time when takfiri and fundamentalist movements have grown.
The sources said Hezbollah’s position would improve on the internal, Arab and regional stage after the signing of a Western-Iranian agreement.
They said the party would have a role within major regional settlements, which they said were launched as a result of a major Russian push, adding that an accord at the Geneva II peace conference between all involved powers and Syrian factions had a great chance of being the crowning achievement of the Russian initiative.
The sources said that time was of the essence in resolving the Syrian crisis with the approach of the country’s presidential elections.
Hezbollah sources said the discovery of a car rigged with a large amount of explosives between the Baalbek towns of Younin and Maqneh last week was the result of serious cooperation among security, military and judicial agencies as well as the party.
This was aided by the fact that the Bekaa Valley’s villages are considered the first line in repelling the plans and attacks by takfiri groups, according to the sources, who said that members of the Hezbollah-affiliated Resistance Brigades are spread throughout the region and carry out surveillance of the border with Syria as part of the party’s efforts to protect its environment and supporters.
Sources denied that the party had used its Ayyoub unmanned drone to track the rigged car, and said the Lebanese Army had the technical capability to find the required information, in addition to data from Russian and Chinese satellites.
The Hezbollah sources said that this proved the importance of the axis reaching from Russia to Iran, Syria and the resistance in Lebanon in combating waves of extremism and terrorism, reaffirming the need to return to the “golden triangle” of the people, Army and the resistance.
Europe using Iran deal to repair relations with Hezbollah | News , Lebanon News | THE DAILY STAR
