Report: Berri spoke of June 15 deadline after sanctions threat

The foreign threats to impose sanctions on the Lebanese officials who obstruct the presidential vote are what pushed Speaker Nabih Berri to say that “the presidential election should be finalized before June 15 at the latest,” a media report said on Monday.

“There are serious indications about foreign sanctions that are being mulled to be imposed on the obstructors of the presidential vote,” the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper said.

“The sanctions indications started to emerge on April 26 through the letter on the situation in Lebanon that was sent to U.S. President Joe Biden by the head of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Robert (Bob) Menendez, and the Committee’s Ranking Member James (Jim) Risch,” the daily added.

The letter contained a direct criticism of Berri over his role in the presidential file.

“We remain discouraged by the ongoing political deadlock, engineered by Hezbollah and its allies, like Nabih Berri, to wear down the opposition to its preferred candidate at the expense of candidates with broader support who are more willing to tackle Lebanon’s many challenges,” Menendez and Risch said in their letter.