Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, rejected this Saturday (6) Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s statements that “Lebanon is a bargaining chip for Tehran” in negotiations with the United States.
“If Lebanon were a bargaining chip, we would have had an agreement a long time ago,” Araghchi published in X.
Based on Mr. Aoun’s comments, one would think it’s Iran that has occupied 1/5 of Lebanon, displaced 1/4 of Lebanese and bombing his country on daily basis.
Had Lebanon been bargaining chip for Iran, we’d have a deal long ago.
Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi)
“Based on Mr. Aoun’s comments, one would think that it is Iran that has occupied 1/5 of Lebanon, displaced 1/4 of the Lebanese, and bombs their country daily. Save Lebanon from its true enemy, Mr. President,” Araghchi declared.
The Iranian chancellor’s position comes in response to criticism made by Iran.
In an exclusive interview with CNN on Friday (5), in the war against the United States and Israel.
In the interview, Aoun demanded that the Iranian regime stop interfering in Lebanese affairs and also stated that the .
Addressing Iran, the president said: “You are not trying to help us… the people of Lebanon are paying the price… in the name of their own interests,” adding: “our interests… do not coincide with yours.”
Aoun also directed criticism at the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s military force, saying: “This is not your country, it is our country.”
This morning, the United States stated that it was heading towards Kuwait and Bahrain.
Iran has said it has struck bases in both countries, which the United States denies. “There are no reports of damage to U.S. military personnel at this time, and Iranian claims of damage to the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain are false,” Central Command said.
Remember how the war in Iran began
On February 28, the President of the United States announced a “large-scale” attack on Iran, stating that the country’s main objective was “to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
According to him, these threats included Tehran’s nuclear program – a recurring point of friction that has also hampered the most recent negotiations to end the fighting.
The joint attacks by the US and Israel against Iran — which resulted in the death of the then supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — caused thousands of deaths across the country and damage to dozens of museums, historic buildings and cultural sites, according to Iranian media outlets and authorities.
In response, Iran launched a series of retaliatory attacks across the Middle East and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which about 20% of the world’s oil passes.
Weeks before the war began, the Trump administration carried out the largest military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, triggering warnings of an escalation in regional violence if a conflict erupted.
At the same time, US envoys held regular talks with Iran about a possible new nuclear deal. But those talks were unable to avert military action, with Trump accusing Iran at the time of rejecting “all opportunities to renounce its nuclear ambitions.”
The outbreak of war in February also followed mass anti-regime protests in Iran the previous month, fueled by economic discontent amid skyrocketing costs.
