by BY CAROLINE VAKIL — thehill.com — Lebanese troops were deployed to Tripoli on Sunday following protests over Lebanon’s worsening economic conditions …

By NAJIA HOUSSARI -- arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities have rejected suggestions that the country is planning to import oil from Iran amid a worsening energy and currency crisis. Lebanon’s energy ministry on Saturday said that it had received no requests for a “permit, either from an official or private party, to import oil from Iran.” The official Lebanese response followed a tweet by the Iranian Embassy in Beirut saying that “the arrival of Iranian oil tankers does not need the attention of the US ambassador.” The embassy warned the US envoy not to intervene “in the brotherly relations between the Iranian and Lebanese peoples.” A photo of an oil tanker at sea was attached to the tweet. The tweet heightened speculation about the imminent arrival of an Iranian tanker in Beirut port following a proposal by Hezbollah that Lebanon look to oil imports from Iran. On Friday, the US envoy in Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, told a local television station that importing fuel oil from Iran “is not a practical solution.” She added: “What Iran is looking for is a sort of dependent state that it can use to carry out its agenda. There are much better solutions than turning to Iran.” She added: “The US has always been by the side of the Lebanese people, but Iran looks at Lebanon as being a state that could help it implement its agenda.”

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said that his party is “working in the background to implement a plan to buy oil from Tehran and pay for it in Lebanese pounds.” He proposed that two oil refineries be built in north and south Lebanon. The Hezbollah proposal provoked widespread anger, with former MP Ahmad Fatfat claiming that “Iran wants to keep Lebanon as a card in its hand to use later.” He said that Lebanon’s economic collapse has allowed Hezbollah to “get its hands on all sectors,” while its ally the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) “has handed the party all the cards in return for getting power.” Political analyst Assaad Bechara told Arab News that Nasrallah’s insistence on importing oil from Iran “is a populist step that aims to suggest Iran is helping Lebanon while the rest of the world is doing nothing.” However, he questioned whether Lebanon’s private sector companies would be willing to risk sanctions by importing Iranian oil. “The queues at gas stations in Tehran are longer than the queues in Lebanon,” he added. Attempts to strengthen Iranian influence over Lebanon are unfolding amid a worsening financial collapse, with the exchange rate late on Saturday reaching 18,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar.

ان كثرة التفاهمات والمصالحات وبيانات التهدئة والتوضيح والاستنكار رغم ضرورتها هي اكبر دليل ان المجتمع ليس بخير

by thearabweekly.com -- PARIS – Pressure is building up on Lebanon’s political class to end their ongoing dispute over the formation of a new government that is critical to transforming the country and launching long-stalled reforms. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Friday his country and the United States have agreed to act together to put pressure on Lebanese officials responsible for the political and economic calamity gripping the country. “We have decided to act together to put pressure on those responsible. We know who they are,” Le Drian told a news conference with US counterpart Antony Blinken in Paris. “We need to see real leadership in Beirut,” Blinken added. A fight among Lebanese leaders to secure power is at the heart of the government turmoil, with the feud threatening to drag the country into a total financial crash.

Lebanon’s economic meltdown, triggered by decades of corruption and mismanagement, began in late 2019 and has intensified in recent months. The World Bank said earlier this month the crisis is likely to rank as one of the worst the world has seen in more than 150 years, adding that the economy contracted 20.3% in 2020 and is expected to shrink a further 9.5% this year. Lebanon defaulted on paying back its debt for the first time in March, while talks with the International Monetary Fund on a bailout package stopped last year. The crisis has been the biggest threat to Lebanon’s stability since the 1975-90 civil war ended. A power struggle has emerged between premier-designate Saad Hariri on one side and the president Michel Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil, who heads the largest bloc in parliament, on the other. It has worsened the crisis despite warnings from world leaders and economic experts of the dire economic conditions tiny Lebanon is facing. Hariri was named to form a new government in October and has not succeeded so far.