3 days ago
The Fate of Iran's Arms
Written by
Howayda Awad Ahmad
In a powerful message and a clear, brash attack, with a tone that was neither strong nor weak, Sheikh Naim Qassem bluntly declared that Hezbollah would not give up its weapons and that it was Lebanon's only safe haven against Israeli ambitions. He resolutely sought solutions with the Lebanese President and coordination with the Lebanese Army and political parties. This complete rejection is a clear message to the Israeli enemy that the resistance is continuing, renewing itself, and reorganizing its systems after the assassination of most of its senior leaders. A gratuitous abandonment is a figment of the imagination after all this long conflict.
This is despite Iran and the United States announcing that they would negotiate in the Sultanate of Oman in a devious manner, studying the issue of Hezbollah's weapons and reducing Hezbollah's regional role, in exchange for the enemy's withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Despite Israel's failure to abide by the agreement concluded in November of last year between the resistance in Lebanon and Israel, brokered by the United States, it continues to refuse to withdraw. Consequently, Lebanese citizens will not trust Hezbollah, nor will they return to the Bekaa Valley and the South, nor will they rebuild as long as the Israeli entity remains present.
Israel's presence along the Litani River and its insistence on maintaining a military presence throughout southern Lebanon are in the hope of settling Palestinians and displacing them from Gaza, or of pursuing the Zionist expansionist project, as is currently occurring in Syria. Another goal is to end Hezbollah's influence and surround it from all sides.
The Syrian scene has now become a flashpoint for the entire region and an example to follow, as the occupation dismantled and disarmed the Syrian army, encircling Syrian territory and placing it under control without an army, without weapons, and without power.
It seems that Al-Qassem has learned his lesson well and is shouldering the responsibility of avenging Hassan Nasrallah, Hashem Safi, all the party's active leaders, and the thousands of civilian martyrs targeted by Israel last year. Loyalty to the resistance's weapons and adherence to the same ideals and sacrifices. A few days ago, Israel responded to Qassem's speech with more bombing and escalation, a sharp response to their continued efforts to clip Hezbollah's claws, or rather, uproot that arm.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is fully aligned with the resistance, and there are agreements and a comprehensive defense strategy at the diplomatic, military, and economic levels against ongoing Israeli attacks.
This coordination between them is aimed at preserving Lebanon's stability.
Indeed, research and organization are underway to restructure the resistance, rehabilitate, and organize high-level military courses for some Hezbollah members to integrate them into the Lebanese army, as previously occurred with the integration of the security forces' militias and the army after the end of the civil war in the 1990s. However, this integrated system cannot be restored until Israel withdraws completely from Lebanon.
The Lebanese president, who pledged to restrict weapons to the state, contradicts Hezbollah's desires, which completely refuses to disarm before Israel withdraws from the south and completes the return of the residents and reconstruction of the south. Analyzing this vision reveals an imminent merger between the resistance and the army in the coming years.
More dangerously, we must not overlook the fact that there is a sovereign movement opposing Hezbollah in the Lebanese government, which emphasizes the complete disarmament of Hezbollah and the removal of its power, in accordance with the UN Charter, by implementing the resolution to disarm all militias from all Lebanese territory and evacuating the area south of the Litani River of all Hezbollah military forces bordering Israel.
This vision will, of course, serve to expand and systematically extend the Israeli occupation of Syrian territory. Israel has exploited the presence of Trump in the US, the change of administration from Biden to Trump, and the change of Amos Hochstein to Morgat Otagos to escape and renounce all previous treaties and agreements, including ceasefires and even truces, and to delay the planned withdrawal last February. It continues to carry out carefully targeted intelligence-driven strikes against Hezbollah leaders, bulldoze land, build walls, and organize committees from the United States, France, Lebanon, Israel, and UNIFIL to consolidate and consolidate normalization with the entity... not to appease the situation. Because Iran is now at a crossroads and is on the verge of reviving the Hezbollah file and supporting it as it did before, after the fall of Assad, it is no longer able to provide financial support to revive the party after it has lost those responsible for its management and leadership. On the other hand, it sees the Israeli presence in Syria supported by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is standing guard to prevent any rise of Shiite support from Assad and Hezbollah supporters. Only the Houthi arm remains, waiting to see what Iran will threaten, how the Iranian-American understandings will end, and what will be the consequences of the current Gulf-American arms deals and the resulting imbalance in the Middle East. Discussions about Iranian nuclear weapons will not be isolated from Iran's militias in the region. Iranian brutality will be met with American-Zionist-European brutality. The Arabs are paying their money, and the arms factories continue to sell weapons to the highest bidder.
