Jumblat Mocks Hizbullah's Diesel Convoys
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Friday commented sarcastically on the entry of Hizbullah-imported Iranian diesel from Syria into Lebanon.
“We no longer know from where the diesel, gasoline and oil convoys are coming,” Jumblat said in a tweet.
“Those who care for us have become numerous to an extent that we might become an oil exporting country without border demarcation and without excavation -- neither in the north nor in the south nor at sea nor on land,” the PSP leader added.
Jumblat is believed to be a co-owner of at least one Lebanese oil and gas company.
Dozens of tanker trucks carrying Iranian fuel arranged by Hizbullah arrived in shortage-hit Lebanon Thursday. As they entered from Syria through an illegal crossing in the eastern region of Hermel, the trucks were greeted by Hizbullah supporters waving the group's yellow flag and ululating women tossing rice and rose petals.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had promised in August he would bring fuel from Iran to alleviate the rationing that is sowing chaos across the country.
A first Iranian ship reached the Syrian port of Baniyas earlier this week. The cargo was offloaded there and trucked to Lebanon, the first of several planned deliveries.
A total of 80 trucks carrying four million liters (more than one million gallons) of petrol entered Lebanon on Thursday and were expected to fill the tanks of Al-Amana, a fuel distribution company which is owned by Hizbullah and has been under U.S. sanctions since February 2020.
"This is humanitarian aid that will meet the needs of the population," said Jawad, a 50-year-old Hermel resident who was among the crowd gathered to welcome the convoy. Hizbullah "is not replacing the state, it's a temporary measure until the state can deliver its duties," he said.
For critics, however, the convoy is a symbol of the dissolution of the Lebanese state.
"Don't forget this day," tweeted Laury Haytayan, a Lebanese oil and gas expert and activist, describing it as the day Hizbullah won over the Lebanese state.
Hizbullah is often accused by its opponents of operating a state-within-a-state and has been taking part in Syria's civil war alongside government forces.
Nasrallah's announcement last month was a boon for the Tehran-backed movement and prompted the announcement of several other fuel supply schemes via other regional powers.
The amount of Iranian petrol being delivered can only meet a small part of the demand in Lebanon, where motorists spend hours -- sometimes days -- in queues to fill up.
Under another initiative to bring some power to the country, energy ministers from Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon earlier this month agreed a plan to bring Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity to Lebanon via Syria.
The United States has backed the plan and given rare approval for the Arab neighbors to escape punishment under sanctions targeting the Syrian regime.
