A message lighting up Times Square , New York City center :
Neighboring nations deserve better than what stands between them.
The next round of US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon will take place in early September, an official familiar with the matter was quoted as saying without revealing the exact date
The official acknowledges that the last round of talks in Rome did not go very smoothly, as Beirut is pushing for additional Israeli withdrawals from southern Lebanon while Jerusalem argues that verification of Hezbollah disarmament must be completed first.
In the weeks leading up to the next round, the US is pushing the sides to agree on a list of countries that will take part in the verification mechanism, with Israel rejecting the inclusion of countries that have sought to act against it in international forums, the official says.
Hezbollah rejects Lebanon-Israel talks
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem again rejected the deal struck between Israel and Lebanon and says his Iran-backed militant group refuses to “surrender” nearly six months after Hezbollah’s war with Israel.
“We are against the framework agreement and call for its downfall,” Qassem said in a televised address broadcast on the group’s mouthpiece Al-Manar TV
Israel and Lebanon launched US-sponsored direct talks after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 by attacking Israel, which responded with massive strikes and a ground invasion that Lebanese authorities say have killed more than 4,300 people and injured thousands more
“The framework agreement is illegitimate, unlawful, humiliating, destructive to Lebanese sovereignty,” Qassem who officially doubles as the representative of Iran’s Supreme leader said.
“We do not agree to the ‘pilot zones’ or to what comes from them,” he says, also rejecting any proposed verification system.
The purpose of the pilot zones is to allow the Lebanese army to gradually take over the areas occupied by Israel in order for the Israeli Amy to withdraw from the areas it occupied in Lebanon following Hezbollah’s entry into the war .
Hezbollah initiated 3 wars against Israel in the past 20 years ; the 2006 war , the 2023 war and this war and every time it was defeated and Lebanon ended up losing territory to Israel . All the 3 wars had nothing to do with Lebanon; they were all aimed at increasing Iran’s influence in the region at Lebanon’s expense.
Hundreds of thousands of Shiite homes were destroyed during these wars. Iran never contributed to the reconstruction of these homes . The Arab Gulf countries rebuilt them
But this time around no country is willing to help in reconstruction unless Hezbollah hands over its arsenal to the Lebanon army , the only entity authorized to carry arms in Lebanon .
Iran could have been a major economic power in the region; a nation that has vast wealth and the people to build a strong, diversified economy, to provide its citizens with education, employment, and a dignified life. Instead, it chose a path of expansion, influence, and ideological conflict at the expense of domestic development and the well-being of its citizens and the Shiite communities of the region. Its currency the rial is a good example of where iran was and where it is today in 1978 and prior to the Islamic revolution a US dollar was worth less than 70 rials . Today one US dollar is worth over 2 million rials . This 28571 times less and add to this the fact that the inflation rate is about 88 %
