Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani said on Wednesday that Israel, not Iran, was seeking to impose its will on Lebanon, after President Joseph Aoun warned against foreign interference in the country’s affairs.
“Dear friends, who else attacked your country besides Israel?" Larijani told reporters in Beirut on Wednesday. So be careful that Israel does not impose something else on you through other means."
"Do not let it use other forms of pressure to force on you what it could not achieve through war. Do not mistake friend for enemy; resistance is your national asset,” he added.
Larijani said that Iras no intention in interfering in the affairs of Lebanon.
His remarks come a week after the Lebanese government ordered the army to devise plans by the end of the year to disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, prompting sharp criticism from Tehran.
Tense rhetoric
Ali-Akbar Velayati, senior foreign policy adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, called the disarmament “a dream that won’t come true,” describing it as a policy dictated by Israel and Washington.
“Whatever conclusion it (the Lebanese government) reaches, we will also accept. Those who interfere in Lebanon’s affairs are the ones who give you plans, set timelines for actions, and come from thousands of kilometres away. We have not given you any plans,” he added.
Lebanon’s foreign ministry condemned the comments on X as “a flagrant and unacceptable interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun also criticized remarks by Iranian officials, stressing that no group has the right to bear arms or seek foreign support.
“It is forbidden for anyone to bear arms and to use foreign backing as leverage,” Aoun told Larijani during their meeting, according to a statement from the president’s office posted on X.
