No armed groups allowed in Lebanon, president Aoun tells Hezbollah's ally Iran
Jana Choukeir
and
Ahmed Elimam
Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, in this handout image released on August 13, 2025. Lebanese Presidency Press Office/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.
BEIRUT – No group in Lebanon is permitted to bear arms or rely on foreign backing, its president told a visiting senior Iranian official on Wednesday after the cabinet
approved the goals
of a U.S.-backed roadmap
to disarm
the Iran-aligned Hezbollah group.
During a meeting in Beirut with
Ali Larijani
, secretary of Iran's top security body, Joseph Aoun warned against foreign interference in Lebanon's internal affairs, saying the country was open to cooperation with Iran but only within the bounds of national sovereignty and mutual respect.
Larijani said the Islamic Republic supports Lebanon's sovereignty and does not interfere in its decision-making.
'Any decision taken by the Lebanese government in consultation with the resistance is respected by us,' he said after separate talks with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, whose Amal movement is an ally of Hezbollah and Iran.
By 'resistance', Larijani was alluding to the Shi'ite Muslim militant Hezbollah, which was founded in 1982, grew into a 'state-within-a-state' force better armed than the Lebanese army and has repeatedly fought Israel over the decades without consulting top Lebanese officials .
'Iran didn't bring any plan to Lebanon, the U.S. did. Those intervening in Lebanese affairs are those dictating plans and deadlines', said Larijani.
He said Lebanon should not 'mix its enemies with its friends – your enemy is Israel, your friend is the resistance'.
'I recommend to Lebanon to always appreciate the value of resistance.'
The U.S. submitted a plan through President Donald Trump's envoy to the region, Tom Barrack, setting out the most detailed steps yet for disarming Hezbollah, which has rejected mounting calls to disarm since its devastating war with Israel last year.
Hezbollah has rejected repeated calls to relinquish its weaponry although it was seriously weakened in the war, with Israel killing most of its leadership in airstrikes and bombings and thousands of its fighters .
It was the climax of a conflict that began in October 2023 when the group opened fire at Israeli positions along Lebanon's southern frontier in support of its Palestinian Islamist ally Hamas at the start of the Gaza war.
Aoun also said recent remarks by some Iranian officials had not been helpful, and reaffirmed that the Lebanese state and its armed forces were solely responsible for protecting all citizens.
Last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran supported any decision Hezbollah makes, adding that this was not the first attempt to strip the group of its weapons.
(Reuters)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Ya Libnan
2 hours ago
- Ya Libnan
Druze demand self determination in largest protest held since deadly clashes in Syria
The Druze people demonstrated in Syria's southern city of Sweida and elsewhere on Saturday to demand the right to self determination for the Druze minority, in the largest protests to take place since deadly clashes in the area last month. Some of the protesters waved Israeli flags to thank Israel for intervening on their side during heavy clashes in mid-July between militias of the Druze minority and armed tribal groups and government forces. Protesters raised Druze flags and pictures of Sheikh al-Aql Hikmat al-Hajri. They chanted, 'Sweida is free, free… al-Golani must get out.' Protesters also held up signs reading, 'The right to self-determination is a sacred right for Sweida,' 'We demand the opening of a humanitarian crossing,' and 'Expel the General Security forces from our villages.' Some posters thanked Israel for intervening on their side during the heavy clashes in mid-July between the Druze and government forces Interim president Ahmed Sharra used to be known as Abu Mohammad Al Golani, when he headed up the al Qaeda linked al Nusra Front which created many problems for the Druze community Saturday's demonstration comes as Syria grapples with deep ethnic and religious divisions following the collapse of the Assad regime last December. The transition has proven fragile, with renewed violence erupting against the Aalwites in March along the coast and in July in Sweida, a city with a significant Druze population, highlighting the continued threat to peace after years of civil war. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Syrian war monitor, said the protesters expressed their rejection of the interim central government in Damascus and demanded that those responsible for atrocities against Druze be brought to justice. Rayyan Maarouf, who heads the activist media collective Suwayda 24, said Saturday's demonstration in Sweida was the largest since last months's clashes, and that there were similar gatherings in areas including the nearby towns of Shahba and Salkhad. He added that this is the first time people protested under the slogan of self determination. 'This is an unprecedented change for the Druze in Syria,' Maarouf told The Associated Press. Clashes erupted on July 13 between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes in Sweida. Government forces then intervened, nominally to restore order, but ended up essentially siding with the Bedouins against the Druze. Israel intervened in defence of the Druze, launching dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters and even striking the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in central Damascus. Atrocities were committed during the clashes that left hundreds of people dead. The new interim government set up a committee last month tasked with investigating attacks on civilians in the sectarian violence in the country's south. It is supposed to issue a report within three months. The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Islam. Over half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most other Druze live in Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. Fear According to observers 'More than a decade after the Syrian revolution began, a new chapter is being written—but instead of hope, it is soaked in fear, especially for Syria's minority communities. With the collapse of the Assad regime, the rise of a Sunni-majority leadership under figures like Ahmed al-Sharaa has brought not stability, but renewed anxiety. Minorities such as the Druze, Alawites, and Christians—once wary of Assad but now terrified of what follows—are facing systematic violence and abandonment. Thousands have been killed since Sharaa took over' The observers added: 'These aren't isolated incidents. They are part of a disturbing pattern that suggests the new rulers are either unwilling or incapable of protecting Syria's rich mosaic of identities. The result is a growing exodus, as minorities increasingly view departure as their only guarantee of survival.' 'This failure to govern inclusively not only betrays Syria's remaining social fabric, but it opens the door to international fragmentation. External powers, already present in Syria in various forms, are monitoring closely. Some may seek to intervene under the guise of humanitarian concern; others may exploit the chaos to carve out influence. Either path leads to the same end: the partition of Syria into sectarian or ethnic cantons, forever ending the dream of a unified state.' AP/ YL
L'Orient-Le Jour
3 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
The law on judicial independence is ‘a positive step' but ‘enough,' according to HRW
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report published on Aug. 15, 2025, that the bill on judicial independence, adopted by the Lebanese Parliament on July 31, is 'a positive step' but 'does not sufficiently guarantee judicial independence.' The organization noted that 'the new law includes some advances in judicial independence, notably greater autonomy and a larger role for judges in electing their peers.' However, the report continues, 'it allows the government-appointed attorney general to order other prosecutors to halt ongoing judicial proceedings and limits the highest judicial body in Lebanon [the Supreme Judicial Council] in overcoming government deadlock and obstruction in judicial appointments.' Ramzi Kaiss, an HRW researcher in Lebanon, said that 'the Lebanese Parliament has made progress but has not truly seized the opportunity to protect the judiciary from political interference.' The report also notes that, although the bill was signed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berry and sent to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and President Joseph Aoun, the parliament and government should amend the text. It has been widely criticized by civil rights groups, including the Coalition for Judicial Independence in Lebanon and Legal Agenda, for not taking their recommendations into account and for amendments made during its passage through the Administration and Justice Committee. 'The draft presented in 2018 followed very high standards,' said Nizar Saghiyé, executive director of Legal Agenda, cited in the report. He acknowledged progress on transparency in judicial elections and freedom-of-expression guarantees but said there is still a long way to go. The new law indeed expands judges' in the process of electing their peers and strengthens self-governance in appointments, disciplinary measures, and the transfer of cases among magistrates. It also tasks the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) with developing internal judicial regulations and a judicial code of conduct. Article 53 states that 'judges are independent in the exercise of their functions' and 'cannot be transferred, evaluated, sanctioned, or suspended from their judicial duties, except in cases provided by law.' Judges remain irremovable for four years unless subject to disciplinary proceedings, and they cannot remain in the same position for more than five years. However, whereas the original version stipulated that the vast majority of SJC members should be appointed by their peers, following the recommendations of the Venice Commission (the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters), the bill was amended to increase the number of judges appointed by the government from three to four out of eight. What worries civil society most is that the government-appointed public prosecutor is still authorized by law to instruct other prosecutors to take legal measures of their choosing, giving them powers that remain excessive, according to the report. Civil society also highlighted significant violations in the legal process of adopting the text. These included 'last-minute amendments that members of Parliament could not examine before the vote, as well as a random tallying process that led some journalists and MPs to conclude that the bill had not received a majority of votes,' the report notes. 'We did not discuss the law, and the text was not put to a vote. They called certain names [of parliamentarians], then the law was approved,' said MP Halimé Kaakour (protesting) in a video posted on social media, a statement cited by HRW. Finally, the report raised the need for the government to ensure that the military prosecutor's office no longer handles civilian cases, contrary to its internal regulations. The appearance of civilians before this 'special' body had become commonplace in recent years, in what the organization described as attempts at 'intimidation.' The HRW report also notes that the newly adopted law is subject to review by the Constitutional Council and should be amended. 'The adoption of this law represents a first step in judicial reform, but the struggle will not be over until Lebanese leaders permanently remove the legal provisions used to obstruct and paralyze the work of the judiciary,' concluded Ramzi Kaiss.
![France has called on Israel ‘to abandon [its] project' to build 3,400 housing units in the West Bank](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fs.lorientlejour.com%2Fstorage%2Fattachments%2F1474%2Fmedias_346199_489057.jpg%2Fr%2F800%2Fmedias_346199_489057.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
L'Orient-Le Jour
3 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
France has called on Israel ‘to abandon [its] project' to build 3,400 housing units in the West Bank
France has called on Israel ''to abandon [its] project'' to build 3,400 housing units in the West Bank, which ''constitutes a serious violation of international law,'' the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, according to AFP. ''A France spokesperson condemns with the utmost firmness the decision of the Israeli authorities to approve the E1 settlement project, which plans the construction of more than 3,000 housing units east of Jerusalem,'' the spokesperson added.
