Hariri: Iran Had Elections a Few Days ago, so Why Can’t we?

Head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri condemned on Thursday the ongoing vacuum in the presidency, indirectly accusing Iran of using Hizbullah to prevent the polls.

He said in an interview with CNN television: “Iran had elections a few days ago, so why can’t we have elections, like normal people?”

“Why can’t we go to the parliament? Why are they stopping Hizbullah from letting members of parliament elect a president?” he asked.

“We are trying to keep Lebanon safe among all the problems that are happening in the region. We do not want to turn Lebanon into Syria. We want to save Lebanon.”

He however expressed fears that the Syrian war could spread to Lebanon.

The Islamic State group “would love to come to Lebanon. We are fighting it. We will keep on fighting it, we will keep fighting al-Nusra Front,” he added.

“In the end however if you do not have a president, a new government and all that, Lebanon cannot function as it is to faces all these challenges,” warned the MP.

Addressing Saudi Arabia’s decision to halt its aid to the Lebanese army over the stances of Hizbullah and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, Hariri told CNN: “I think the foreign minister took a decision that is not supposed to be taken.”

“I think Lebanon should have stood by Saudi Arabia because it is something that is not acceptable by all means. Even Iraq, which is very close to Iran, took that position and approved the decision in the Arab League, but unfortunately we did not take the right decision,” he said of Bassil’s abstention from voting on League resolutions condemning attacks against the Saudi embassy and consulate in Iran.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali “Khamenei himself came out and condemned these actions and I do not see why Hizbullah in Lebanon and the foreign minister here took such a position.”

“It reveals that Hizbullah is being played as a proxy of Iran and this is unfortunate because Lebanon cannot sustain a policy against any Arab nation let alone Saudi Arabia.”

“We believe Saudi Arabia has done so much for Lebanon throughout the history of the relationship between the two countries. If you think of how many billions of dollars Saudi Arabia spent in Lebanon especially after the war in 2006.”

“Saudi Arabia has been playing positive. It has never built a militia whereas Iran has built a militia called ‘Hizbullah’,” added Hariri.

He also rejected claims that any weapons granted to the Lebanese army would end up with Hizbullah.