Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem complained on Tuesday that Washington is trying to force the country to make concessions to Israel with no commitments offered in return.
Washington is pushing to cut off Hezbollah’s funding sources while also pressing the Lebanese government to disarm the armed Islamist group.
Hezbollah was greatly weakened in its most recent war with Israel, which ended in a November 2024 ceasefire, but Israeli strikes have continued at a lower rate.
“America… is putting pressure on the government to make concessions without any reciprocal commitments or guarantees… and wants to give Israel free rein,” Qassem said, on Hezbollah’s al-Manar television.
“The government’s role is not to listen to American diktats and begin implementing them.”
A delegation from the US Treasury, which met with Lebanese officials on Sunday and Monday, urged them to take action to halt Iranian funding of Hezbollah.
The US “administration is very serious about cutting off Iran’s funding” to Hezbollah, deputy director for counter-terrorism John Hurley told journalists on Monday.
According to the US Treasury, Iran has transferred more than a billion dollars to the group since January.
A Lebanese official who requested anonymity to speak freely, told AFP that the US delegation delivered a “clear and firm” message on the need to actively fight against Hezbollah’s funding sources.
Hezbollah emerged from the last war with Israel without Qassem’s predecessor Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated, and with much of its military capability destroyed.
Hezbollah’s grip on Lebanese politics has since weakened, but it refuses to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese army.
“We will not give up our weapons, which give us strength and determination,” the Hezbollah chief reiterated on Tuesday.
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© Agence France-Presse
