The protests and political upheavals in Lebanon and apprehensions by
United States must be read very carefully. The developments in Lebanon have to be viewed with
a different perspective after Lebanese Energy and Water Minister Neda Boustani announced
the start of drilling of country’s first oil well in the waters off the coast
of Beirut.
The oil well is to be drilled in the Mediterranean 30 kilometers from
the Lebanese capital in the north. About a year and a half ago, Lebanon awarded
its first offshore gas and oil exploration and production agreements to a
consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek for two blocks
out of ten.
Ten oil blocks have been identified in the coastal waters of Lebanon
with an area about 18,000 square kilometers.
The Americans, who have shown that the smell of oil drives them to the
oil-rich countries, these days, pretend that they are really concerned about
the situation in Lebanon and its people. Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state,
has recently claimed that Iraqi and Lebanese people want their countries back
from Iran.
The expression of concerns by the US over the situation in Lebanon, in
the light of Boustani’s announcement, has led various Lebanese groups,
especially Hezbollah, to feel the danger very well. Hezbollah Executive Council
Deputy Chief Sheikh Ali Da’mush has warned that the US and its allies are
seeking to undermine the political system in Lebanon and restructure it in
their own favor.
The US wants a government comes to power which would be under its own
control and implement Washington’s plans. For example, it wants Lebanon agree
to demarcation of borders based on Israel’s wishes, grant projects for oil and
gas extractions to US companies, permanently house the displaced Palestinian
people, and target the axis of resistance and its missile power.
In addition to the United States, the Zionist regime is also happy with
the unrest because Israel has disputes with Lebanon over common borders as well
as oil and gas resources. Such an uprising provides the opportunity for Tel
Aviv to plunder Lebanese natural resources.
The Zionist regime which is violating the Lebanese land, airspace and
territorial waters frequently will take advantage of the protests in the
country while Lebanese officials are doing their utmost to improve and calm the
situation. Consequently, the officials will not be able to pay attention to
regional issues, which is a matter that Hezbollah has repeatedly warned about.
Undoubtedly, one cannot have a positive view of sudden unrest in
oil-rich countries in the Middle East under the shadow of US intervention.
History has shown that oil-rich countries have always suffered from domestic
tensions and crises so that Western powers, that usually lead the riots, can
easily plunder their oil resources.
In any case, it seems that after Syria, the US has specified Lebanon as
its next destination for oil robbery, and US officials are expected to make
specific comments on the developments in the country in future days.
