Hariri warns of sanctions risk as Hezbollah orders Iranian oil for Lebanon

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah speaks through a screen during a religious ceremony on August 19, 2021. (AL-MANAR TV/Handout via REUTERS)
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Updated 19 August 2021
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Hariri warns of sanctions risk as Hezbollah orders Iranian oil for Lebanon

  • Hassan Nasrallah said the first shipment was due to set sail ‘within hours’ on Thursday and would be followed by more
  • The delivery would violate US sanctions on Tehran, and opponents warned of dire consequences for Lebanon if it goes ahead

BEIRUT: Lebanese political leaders on Thursday warned of dire consequences for the country should Iran make good its supposed promise to deliver oil.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah earlier in the day said the group had asked for help from Iran and an oil tanker was set to sail “within hours” on Thursday.

Nasrallah cautioned the US and Israel against making any attempts to halt a delivery he said is intended to ease an acute fuel crisis.

If it goes ahead, the delivery would be a violation of US sanctions imposed on Tehran. But Nasrallah said the tanker, carrying diesel, will be followed by others and accused US authorities of “waging an economic war on Lebanon.”

Saad Hariri,  Lebanon's former prime minister, said “the Iranian ships will expose the Lebanese to more risks and sanctions.”

He criticized Nasrallah for declaring the ships to be Lebanese territory and rejected what he described as Lebanon being treated as an Iranian province. He warned that the country could suffer a fate similar to that of heavily sanctioned Venezuela.




A Coral petrol station in Beirut lays idle on August 19, 2021 amid severe fuel shortages that have brought the crisis-hit country to a halt. (AFP)

Hariri also accused Iran of “obstructing the formation of a government in Lebanon,” saying “otherwise, how does it allow itself to violate the international laws by sending ships to Lebanon without the approval of the Lebanese government?”

Mark Ayoub, an expert on energy affairs in Lebanon and the Middle East, told Arab News: “We still don’t know the process that is going to be adopted to get the Iranian ships to Lebanon; will the Lebanese state be a part of it and choose international sanctions, or will Hezbollah assume responsibility?”

Leaked information, said to be from sources at the Energy Ministry, indicates that “no official request has been made to the ministry to obtain permission to import Iranian oil to Lebanon, by land or by sea, or for its discharge, storage and distribution.”

In comments directed at Lebanese president Michel Aoun, who is an ally of Hezbollah, Samir Geagea, president of the Lebanese Forces party, asked: “Will you leave Hezbollah, which has already usurped government authorities in security, military and strategy affairs, to take over the economic decision making as well?”

Samy Gemayel, the president of the Kataeb party, said: “There is no siege on Lebanon, as Nasrallah claims — but there will be soon, because of him, and he will also bring us sanctions.”

Meanwhile Aoun received a phone call from Dorothy Shea, the US ambassador to Lebanon, on Thursday informing him of Washington’s decision to support Lebanon by providing Egyptian natural gas to Jordan. It will be used to generate additional electricity that can be distributed to Lebanon via Syria.

Shea said her country is making “tremendous efforts” to achieve this and added that negotiations with the World Bank are continuing in an effort “to secure financing for the cost of the gas, as well as repairing, reinforcing and maintaining power lines and gas pipes.”

Najat Rushdie, the UN’s deputy special coordinator for Lebanon, spoke of her “deep concern over the potential impacts of the fuel crisis on access to healthcare and water supplies for millions of people in Lebanon.”

She warned: “The bad situation will only get worse unless an immediate solution is reached.”

Hamad Hassan, Lebanon’s health minister and a representative of Hezbollah in the caretaker government, announced the “granting of four emergency permissions to licensed pharmaceutical companies to import medicine, to compensate for shortages.”

Recent developments in Lebanon have slowed the latest attempts to form a new government. Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati said his efforts to achieve this will continue. This came after Aoun complained that unnamed parties were seeking to delay the process and force Mikati to resign.

 


Explosion occurs at Turkish oil refinery during drills, but no casualties are reported

Updated 46 sec ago
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Explosion occurs at Turkish oil refinery during drills, but no casualties are reported

ANKARA: An explosion occurred at an oil refinery in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday, an official said, adding the situation was “under control” and there were no reports of any casualties.
Mayor Tahir Buyukakin told private NTV television that the blast occurred at the Turkish Petroleum Refineries company, Tupras, in Izmit provicince during “routine drills.”
A fire was quickly brought under control by the privately owned company’s own emergency crews and no request for help was made, he said.
Video footage from the site showed smoke rising from the refinery.
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion.

Lebanon media reports strike on residential building south of Beirut

Updated 9 sec ago
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Lebanon media reports strike on residential building south of Beirut

BEIRUT: Lebanese state media reported a strike on an apartment in the Jiyeh coastal area south of Beirut on Tuesday, more than a month into the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The official National News Agency said “a raid targeted a residential apartment in a building in the town of Jiyeh,” where an AFP correspondent said a large plume of grey smoke covered the area.


Iran says killed eight militants since attack on police in province bordering Pakistan

Updated 38 min 40 sec ago
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Iran says killed eight militants since attack on police in province bordering Pakistan

  • Militants from the Jaish Al-Adl group killed 10 police officers during a raid in Sistan-Baluchistan province on October 26
  • Sistan-Baluchistan, which straddles border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, is one of Iran’s most impoverished provinces

TEHRAN: Iran’s military has killed eight militants in an operation in the restive southeast since a deadly attack last month on a police station, state media reported Tuesday.
Militants from the Pakistan-based Jaish Al-Adl group killed 10 police officers during a raid on October 26 in Sistan-Baluchistan province — one of the deadliest attacks in the region in recent months.
Sistan-Baluchistan, which straddles the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, is one of Iran’s most impoverished provinces.
It has long been a flashpoint for cross-border attacks by separatists and extremists, opposed to the authorities in Iran.
Revolutionary Guards commander Ahmad Shafahi said “a total of eight terrorists have been killed” since the beginning of operations in the province, according to the official IRNA news agency on Tuesday.
“Fourteen other terrorists have been arrested,” including key figures involved in the attack, he said, adding security forces seized weapons and ammunition.
Shortly after the attack in Taftan county, some 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran, a report on the Tasnim news agency said four militants had been killed and four others arrested.
Late on Monday, IRNA quoted Guards ground forces commander Mohammad Pakpour as saying the attackers “were not Iranian,” though he did not specify their nationalities.
In early October, at least six people including police officers were killed in two separate attacks in the province.
Jaish Al-Adl said on Telegram they had carried out the attacks.
Formed in 2012 by Baluch separatists, the group is proscribed as a “terrorist organization” by both Iran and the United States.
 
 


Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza, WHO says

Updated 05 November 2024
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Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza, WHO says

  • The patients will travel in a large convoy on Wednesday via the Kerem Shalom crossing

GENEVA: More than 100 patients including children suffering from trauma injuries and chronic diseases will be evacuated from Gaza on Wednesday in a rare transfer out of the war-ravaged enclave, a World Health Organization official said.
“These are ad hoc measures. What we have requested repeatedly is a sustained medevac (medical evacuation) outside of Gaza,” said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, adding that 12,000 people were awaiting transfer.
The patients will travel in a large convoy on Wednesday via the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel before flying to the United Arab Emirates, he added, and then a portion will travel to Romania.


Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions

Updated 05 November 2024
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Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions

  • In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security

DUBAI: Two French citizens detained in Iran since May 2022 are in good health and being held in good detention conditions, Iran’s judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said on Tuesday, according to state media.
Last month, France’s foreign ministry said the conditions that three of its nationals were being held in by Iran were unacceptable.
“According to the relevant authorities, these two people have good conditions in the detention center and are in good health, so any claim regarding their conditions being abnormal is rejected,” Jahangir said.
The spokesperson was referring to Cecile Koehler and Jacques Paris, who he said were arrested on charges of espionage and will have their next court hearing on Nov. 24.
Jahangir did not mention the third French national detained in Iran. French media have disclosed only his first name, Olivier.
In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.
Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests.