INA-Follow-up
Hezbollah on Thursday described U.S. sanctions against senior Lebanese officers, lawmakers and officials as an “American attempt to intimidate the Lebanese people.”
In a statement, Hezbollah said: “What was issued by the U.S. Departments of State and Treasury of sanctions targeting elected Lebanese MPs, officers in the army and General Security, and officials in Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, is an American attempt to intimidate the free Lebanese people in order to support the Zionist aggression against our country, and to grant it an illusionary political boost after the failure of its crimes to deter Lebanese from exercising their legitimate right to resistance in defense of their homeland.”
It added: “The accusation made by the U.S. administration against our MPs and officials is the rejection of disarming the resistance and confronting surrender projects that the U.S. administration is trying to drag our country into in favour of the Aionist entity. This accusation applies to the majority of people who are committed to resistance and reject surrender.”
Hezbollah said: “These sanctions are a badge of honour on the chest of those included, and a further confirmation of the correctness of our choice. In practice, they are worth no more than the ink they were written with, and will have no practical impact on our options or on continuing the work of comrades and officials in serving their people and defending their interests and sovereignty.”
It concluded: “As for targeting Lebanese army officers on the eve of meetings at the Pentagon, it is an exposed attempt to intimidate our official security institutions and subject the state to American guardianship conditions. This decision is addressed to those who claim friendship with the United States, which seeks to undermine national institutions. The Lebanese authorities must defend their constitutional, security and military institutions, in order to preserve national sovereignty and the dignity of Lebanon and its people.”
