Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Monday repeated calls for the Lebanese cabinet to seek a US sanctions waiver to import Iranian fuel and alleviate crippling shortages, Reuters reports.
Nasrallah said the government should make power shortages a priority, adding the total blackout that occurred on Saturday when Lebanon’s two largest power plants ground to a halt was like a “clinical death” for the country.
“Let the government ask for a sanctions waiver and let the Lebanese companies go and buy … and then we will withdraw from this file completely,” Nasrallah was quoted as having said in a televised speech.
Iran has provided fuel to Lebanon, in a shipment organized by Hezbollah. The move is an attempt by Hezbollah to solve the continued fuel crisis in Lebanon which has paralyzed the country.
The overland delivery through neighboring Syria violates US sanctions imposed on Tehran after former President Donald Trump pulled America out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati criticized the Iranian fuel shipments imported by Hezbollah, saying they constitute a breach of Lebanon’s sovereignty.
Last week, the United States denounced Hezbollah’s deliveries of Iranian fuel to Lebanon as a “public relations stunt” and warned that Tehran remained under sanctions.
Nasrallah to Lebanese cabinet: Ask US for sanctions waiver https://amos37.com/nasrallah-to-lebanese-cabinet-ask-us-for-sanctions-waiver/
| Josh Toupos |
