Lebanon's FM: Hezbollah is defeated, and Iran will not decide for us

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef (Joe) Rajji delivered one of the most candid assessments of his country's situation in years, speaking Saturday to the French daily Le Figaro, making clear that Hezbollah is strategically finished and that Lebanon will not allow Iran to negotiate on its behalf.

Rajji was unambiguous about Hezbollah's current state: the group is "strategically and militarily defeated." While it retains influence within Lebanon's "deep state »,  through weapons and infiltration of certain public institutions, its capacity to impose its agenda on the country has been fundamentally broken.

The minister made equally clear that disarming Hezbollah is not a concession to Israel or the international community. 

"It responds to the wish of the majority of Lebanese to live in a normal state," he said, a wish that Hezbollah's military activities have systematically denied, dragging Lebanon into wars it never chose and strangling its economy, tourism and investment in the process.

Iran Will Not Speak for Lebanon

On the question of Lebanon being folded into the US-Iran negotiations, Rajji drew a firm red line. "We do not accept that anyone negotiates or signs agreements in our name," he declared, "because that would inevitably happen at Lebanon's expense and to the detriment of its sovereignty."

Rajji expressed confidence that Lebanon can resolve the Hezbollah weapons question without waiting for the Iranian regime to fall. 

"For the first time in a long time, Lebanon has a president, a prime minister and a government sharing the same vision », a unified leadership determined to restore full sovereignty.

His vision is unambiguous: a Lebanon free of Israeli occupation, Iranian Revolutionary Guard presence and Hezbollah weapons. "The problem is not the Shia community, it is Hezbollah, which has taken it hostage."