{"id":148408,"date":"2026-06-06T20:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T20:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/148408\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T20:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T20:52:08","slug":"lebanon-steps-up-diplomacy-and-rebuilds-to-counter-hezbollah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/148408\/","title":{"rendered":"Lebanon steps up diplomacy and rebuilds to counter Hezbollah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lebanon is at a crossroads. This could seem like a clich\u00e9, because it has been at the same crossroads for decades. However, the country is moving to increase its diplomatic outreach so that it might be in a position to confront Hezbollah<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Towards that end, the president of the country spoke with CNN\u2019s Christiane Amanpour about his current challenges.<\/p>\n

As CNN noted, \u201cLebanese President Joseph Aoun<\/a> delivered a searing rebuke to Iran on Friday, accusing it of using his country as a bargaining chip against the wishes of the Lebanese people in the conflict with the United States and Israel.\u201d He said he would do whatever it takes to avoid a new conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are fed up, and we want to live in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

He clearly wants to move forward. The US has helped mediate talks between Lebanon and Israel. However, on June 6, Israeli fire in Lebanon killed an officer in the Lebanese army.<\/p>\n

This was yet another example of the challenges ahead. Israel will need to feel it can coordinate and trust the Lebanese army. There is talk in Washington about helping Lebanon create certain \u201cpilot\u201d zones free from Hezbollah. There is a lot of work to be done.<\/p>\n

One of the ways Lebanon is working to increase its position in the coming possible crisis with Hezbollah is to rebuild some state institutions and work with other countries in the region.<\/p>\n

Arab News in Saudi Arabia noted that \u201cLebanon\u2019s government on Saturday inaugurated the country\u2019s second international airport, which is expected to open to the public within weeks.\u201d Reports have said that this northern airport was long closed because of Hezbollah<\/a> pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cA jet carrying Prime Minister Nawaf Salam landed at Rene Mouawad Airport, where he led the ceremony at the facility in Lebanon\u2019s northwest, close to Syria\u2019s border,\u201d Arab News noted.<\/p>\n

The report went on to say that \u201cBeirut\u2019s Rafik Hariri International Airport, which had been the only international airport in the small Mediterranean nation, has been working at near full capacity over the past several years, especially during Syria\u2019s conflict, making it a main traveling point for Syrian citizens.\u201d The new airport in the north is near the Syrian border. This could be a welcome change for Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal flew from Lebanon for a visit to Pakistan on Saturday. This is important. Pakistan is an ally of Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

It is also mediating with Iran. Haykal has largely failed in the last year to rein in Hezbollah. However, it\u2019s possible that meetings in Pakistan could help.<\/p>\n

The Lebanese general will meet his Pakistani counterpart, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.<\/p>\n

A source told AFP that the visit is \u201clinked to the Pakistani<\/a> mediation to resolve\u201d issues in the region. It\u2019s possible Pakistan might help remove Lebanon from being used by Iran as a bargaining tool. \u201cLebanon is a critical part of the negotiations,\u201d the source added.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lebanon is at a crossroads. This could seem like a clich\u00e9, because it has been at the same…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[32],"tags":[100,93,15953,650],"class_list":["post-148408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lebanon","tag-hezbollah","tag-lebanon","tag-mediation","tag-pakistan"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116705148444940368","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}