Geagea ridicules Hezbollah’s promise of fuel from Iran as ‘silly joke’

Beirut-

Samir Geagea, leader of the Lebanese Force party on Monday ridiculed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s plans for bringing fuel tankers from Iran.

“As for Sayyed Hassan’s promised tankers , it is nothing but a silly little joke amid the tragedy that we are living,” Geagea said in a statement.

“Why hasn’t the Iranian oil solved Assad’s problem? It is important in this regard to mention that Syria’s fuel crisis is what amplified Lebanon’s fuel crisis due to the ongoing systematic smuggling,” Geagea said

“My suggestion to Sayyed Hassan is for Iran to solve Syria’s fuel problem, which would instantly resolve half of Lebanon’s problem,” Geagea added.

The LF leader stressed that the only solution to Lebanon’s fuel crisis would be to “liberalize the market” and that the only solution to Lebanon’s problem would be to “liberate the state from those who are currently in power, ” a possible reference to Hezbollah which has been accused of smuggling the subsidized commodities to Syria using illegal crossing points

Nasrallah on Sunday promised that deliveries of Iranian fuel would arrive “in the days to come” to help solve the country’s fuel shortage problems .

On Thursday Nasrallah said in a televised address that fuel shipments would leave the Islamic republic for Lebanon within hours.

On Sunday fuel prices soared by 66 percent after the subsidy cut

Fuel shortages have forced businesses and government offices to close, even threatening blackouts at hospitals.

On Sunday, Nasrallah said also suggested that the next Lebanese government should pursue drilling for oil and gas off of Lebanon’s coast, stressing that Hezbollah could bring an Iranian company to drill, if necessary, 

Israel and Lebanon have been conducting US-mediated negotiations concerning their maritime border in the past year. The border dispute is about a triangular area of the Mediterranean Sea that starts at the countries’ land border, and is 5-6 km. wide on average. The area constitutes about 2% of Israel’s economic waters.

Hezbollah, a close ally of Iran has been designated as a “terrorist” group by much of the West, and several Arab countries , but is a major political force in Lebanon .