Moqbel to Discuss with Iranian Officials Military Assistance despite Veto
Defense Minister Samir Moqbel is expected to discuss with Iranian officials in Tehran over the weekend a recent pledge to give military assistance to Lebanon to help its fight against extremists.
Moqbel is not entitled to sign any agreement or make any commitment to the Iranian grant, As Safir daily reported on Friday.
His role is limited to informing the Lebanese government about the pledges made by the Iranian officials to take the appropriate action, said the newspaper.
The Iranian grant was announced last month by Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, who was visiting Lebanon.
He did not say what type of military equipment Iran would provide. He told reporters in Beirut that the details would be announced during Moqbel's visit to Tehran.
Iran is the main backer of Hizbullah. The group has thousands of rockets and missiles — many of them from Iran.
Pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat said Thursday that discussions over the Iranian grant have been “frozen” to avoid a rift between cabinet members.
Some Lebanese factions, mainly al-Mustaqbal movement and the March 14 alliance, which are backed by the West, have refused the grant.
Centrist Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat has expressed reservations on it. And the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance is certainly in favor of it.
The United States has also pressed to “delay” an agreement between Tehran and Beirut, Asharq al-Awsat said.
According to As Safir on Friday, there is a U.S., Israeli and Saudi veto on the Iranian grant to the Lebanese army.
Security Council Resolution 1747 bans the sale and transfer of Iranian weapons outside its territories.
In the past few months, the Lebanese army has been fighting militants near the border with Syria. In early August, extremists from al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State group crossed into the northeastern border town of Arsal from Syria, capturing soldiers and policemen. Two of the soldiers have since been beheaded and one has been killed in captivity.
Hizbullah has used the threat posed by the jihadists in Syria to justify sending its members to fight alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces.
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