Who is responsible for ongoing turmoil in Lebanon?

“Saudi Arabia and the United States are exerting economic pressure on Lebanon to isolate Hezbollah” says Jamal Wakim, a professor at the Lebanese University (LU). “Saudi Arabia believes that exerting pressure on the Lebanese economy would help them achieve their political objective by isolating Hezbollah,” Wakim tells the Tehran Times.

“As the US could not get rid of Hezbollah militarily, it thought of doing so by exerting economic pressure on the Lebanese economy in order to incite the whole population against Hezbollah,” he adds.

Lebanon is going through a financial crisis that the World Bank says could rank among the world’s three worst since the mid-1800s in terms of its effect on living standards.

According to Jamal Wakim, after the Civil War in Lebanon, country’s economy has become solely dependent on the tertiary sector and the financial sector and on marginalizing the productive sectors, i.e. agriculture and industry. 
As the US could not get rid of Hezbollah militarily, it thought of doing so by exerting economic pressure on the Lebanese economy in order to incite the whole population against Hezbollah. By controlling the Lebanese financial system, the US was able to dry it off, leading the whole economy to collapse.

Rafiq al-Hariri governments between 1992 and 2004 were the ones that led to the restructuring of the economy to fit the interests of the financial and tertiary sectors. After his assassination, the class which benefited from the al-Hariri policies continued the policies that led to the current crisis. 

Saudi Arabia wants to exert pressure on Hezbollah so they thought that exerting pressure on the Lebanese economy would help them achieve their political objective by isolating Hezbollah. 

The incumbent government is not able to tackle the economic problem because the Prime Minister and the government members represent the interests of the political-financial class that rules the country and whose interests lay in continuing the previous policies that protect the interests of the financial capitalist class. 

To find a sustainable solution to Lebanese malice it is necessary to understand the main areas of economic cooperation between Iran and Lebanon. It is too bad that there are no areas of cooperation between Lebanon and Iran, because Lebanon is under full Western control. 

While Lebanon is still struggling to get over the ramifications of a deadly 2020 blast at Beirut Port, some people on Capitol Hill are busy drawing up plans to further exacerbate the situation in the country.

Lebanon is in bad shape economically and its people are grappling with day-to-day hardships to make ends meet regardless of their religion or political persuasions. However, this does not seem enough for some the US congressmen to refrain from fanning the flames of political divisions in Lebanon at a delicate moment.

Ever since the 2020 destructive explosion devastated the port of Beirut and the surrounding area, the economic situation in Lebanon has been steadily deteriorating. The country’s currency has significantly lost its value against the US dollar. Many gas stations and power stations ran out of fuel needed to power Lebanese cars and light homes.

The explosion led to a political vacuum in Lebanon after Hassan Diab, who assumed premiership in late 2019 by virtue of consensus among Lebanon’s main religiopolitical factions including Hezbollah, resigned. Diab remained in power as caretaker Prime Minister for about 13 months, highlighting the challenges of forming government in a country where political factions are divided along sectarian lines and pulling in different directions. Diab sought to strike a balance and render services to the Lebanese people without prioritizing foreign pressure to undermine certain groups that are part and parcel of Lebanon’s political system. 

Saad Hariri sought to form a government but he was given the cold shoulder due to a perception in some regional and transregional countries that he was unable to undertake reforms long demanded by these countries. And the main target of reforms is Hezbollah. In other words, Hariri was under pressure to form a government bent on weakening Hezbollah. Hariri simply withdrew and then went into self-exile.  

The external pressures continued unabated even after Lebanese leaders across the political spectrum formed a new government led by veteran politician Najib Mikati. 

Mikati has been trying to improve the economic situation in the country. But he is facing daunting challenges in this regard. Because Lebanon is resource-poor and relies, to large extent, on foreign aid to shore up its economy. To overcome economic woes, Lebanon needs foreign loans. The Mikati administration has formally begun negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to reportedly extend US$4 billion loan. 

The loan is part of a broader reform plan that aims to improve the economic situation. But it has been conditioned on the Lebanese government undertaking painful economic reforms and more importantly making a pledge to undermine Hezbollah.

The Tehran Times has learned that Senator James Lankford is spearheading efforts at the US Congress to draw up some legislation on the situation in Lebanon that would direct the US administration to refrain from supporting IMF assistance until needed reforms are made. 

The proposed bill also directs the US to support incremental IMF assistance to Lebanon once reforms are made. 

In addition, the bill calls on the US to impose sanctions on Lebanese leaders thought to be obstructing reforms. 

It goes without saying that reforms here mean measures against Hezbollah, which has long been in the crosshairs of the US. On the surface, the bill seeks to ensure stability in Lebanon, but deep down, it may well end up destabilizing Lebanon by pitting the Lebanese against each other.

The draft prepared by Senator Lankford lays out an array of measures to be taken by the US administration with regards to Lebanon.