Berri: We are not an Israeli colony and will never be

Speaker Nabih Berri has said that the latest crisis over Iranian flights should be addressed “responsibly, wisely and away from the media and furor.”

“This problem should be resolved through a direct, state-to-state dialogue between Lebanon and Iran,” Berri told his visitors, according to al-Joumhouria newspaper.

“It is totally unacceptable for the Israeli enemy to decide for us, as it is trying to do in the issue of preventing Iranian planes from landing at Beirut’s international airport,” Berri added.

“If the enemy continues its insolence, what guarantees that it doesn’t claim later, for example, that there are financial transactions from expats in Africa that are going to Hezbollah, and then it might threaten to target the central bank as it is currently threatening the airport?” the Speaker went on to say.

Stressing that “we are not an Israeli colony and will never be,” Berri rejected “any foreign dictations that harm national sovereignty” and called for “addressing the urgent crisis exclusively in line with the Lebanese interest.”