Hezbollah supporters stormed the streets of Beirut on Friday night, riding motorcycles through central neighbourhoods near Parliament and along the road leading to Beirut's international airport, in a furious reaction to the framework agreement signed in Washington between Lebanon, Israel and the United States.
Iranian flags were visible in amateur footage of the demonstration, a telling detail that underscores exactly whose interests the protesters were defending © Mena Today
Hezbollah supporters stormed the streets of Beirut on Friday night, riding motorcycles through central neighbourhoods near Parliament and along the road leading to Beirut's international airport, in a furious reaction to the framework agreement signed in Washington between Lebanon, Israel and the United States.
Iranian flags were visible in amateur footage of the demonstration, a telling detail that underscores exactly whose interests the protesters were defending.
The Lebanese army deployed along the airport road and dispersed protesters who had blocked traffic, firing tear gas to clear the crowds.
The militia's rage is easy to understand. The Washington agreement, a landmark moment for Lebanese sovereignty, was concluded directly between Beirut and Jerusalem, under American auspices, without Iran and without Hezbollah.
It is precisely the outcome Tehran spent months trying to prevent by insisting that Lebanon's fate be decided in the Iran-US Switzerland talks rather than in direct Lebanese-Israeli negotiations.
Hezbollah has consistently rejected the direct talks. Its supporters on the streets of Beirut Friday night were making clear that the organisation views the agreement as a threat, not to Lebanon, but to its own armed existence and to the Iranian project it serves.
Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement in Washington on Friday following several days of talks to secure an end to fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, though both sides framed the deal as an initial step.
Naim Qassem took to the podium Friday for the Ashura commemorations and delivered precisely the speech the world expected, word for word, beat for beat, with all the spontaneity of a hostage reading from a script prepared in Tehran.
Lebanon's Foreign Ministry on Friday welcomed the joint declaration issued Thursday following the ministerial meeting between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the United States, describing it as a significant endorsement of Beirut's sovereign diplomatic path.
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