Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah warned of an “escalation” with Israel if Lebanese demands are not met in maritime border talks.
In a televised speech Friday for a Hezbollah event, Nasrallah denied any link between the Iran-backed terror organization’s actions in the maritime dispute — which the United States has been mediating — and the ongoing negotiations to restore the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, which appeared to be climaxing.
“If the Lebanese state is not given what it wants, we will be heading to an escalation, even if the nuclear agreement gets signed,” the Hezbollah leader said, according to Lebanese news site Naharnet. “Should the US mediator come and give the Lebanese state what it wants, we will be heading to calm, regardless of whether or not there will be a nuclear agreement.”
“The eyes of the Lebanese should not be on Vienna… The eyes should be on Karish, the sea border and northern Israel,” he added, referring respectively to the location of the border talks and an Israeli offshore gas field claimed by Lebanon.
Nasrallah also hit out at Amos Hochstein, the US State Department mediating the maritime dispute between Israel and Lebanon, who he said was “still wasting time.” He said Hochstein’s “time is running out” to broker a deal.
Hezbollah is poised to gain financially from a renewed nuclear accord, which would see its chief patron Iran receive substantial relief from US sanctions in exchange for reimposing curbs on its nuclear program, while a maritime border deal with Israel would position Lebanon to reap the windfall of profits from offshore gas exploration.
No comments:
Post a Comment