Hezbollah under pressure to strike political deal: Academic

Press TV has conducted an interview with Jamal Wakim, a professor at the Lebanese International University from Beirut, on a decision made by the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council to label Lebanese Resistance Movement (Hezbollah) a terrorist organization.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: As we were talking earlier, you were expressing your initial reaction to this move by the Persian Gulf Arab states declaring Hezbollah a terrorist organization. Go ahead!

Wakim: I believe that the Saudi move and the [P]GCC move is a desperate move in an attempt to label Hezbollah as a terrorist group at a time when allies of Saudi Arabia, armed groups that are allied to Saudi Arabia, and that are fighting the Syrian regime in Syria got labeled by the international community as terrorist groups. So, I believe that this is a desperate attempt to neutralize Hezbollah on the Syrian scene, but there is also another dimension to this.

Saudi Arabia and its allies are trying to pressure Hezbollah to accept a deal, to intimidate Hezbollah to the extent of accepting a deal at any expense in Lebanon in order to elect a president right away and strike a political deal with March 14 that would favor the continuous influence of Saudi Arabia in this country at a time when the Saudis are getting worried about the prospects of the retreat of their influence in the region after the regional changes especially after Iran struck a deal with the West, the [P]5+1 deal over the nuclear program of Iran that established Iran not only as nuclear power but also as a regional power that has a say in the issues of the region including Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

So, this is how I can explain the attempt by the Saudis especially that the Saudis think that Hezbollah was a very strong ally and a big asset for Iran in the past three decades.

Press TV: As you’ve just mentioned as well that this is going to have direct consequences for the current political situation inside of Lebanon, now we did hear the Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran Hossein Amir-Abdullahian saying that this is going to basically hurt unity and security within Lebanon. How do you see this panning out though within this political crisis that Lebanon is going through?

Wakim: Well, Lebanon has been passing through a political vacuum for the past two years, and this is due to continue until a new regional balance gets established and this would not come before a year from now.

Well, I believe that the Saudi attempt is a desperate move, because it wouldn’t lead anywhere especially that the Americans – the allies of the Saudis – send a message to the Saudis via their Lebanese associates or allies that there are redlines not to be crossed by the Saudis, which are the support to the Lebanese army and not to destabilize the Lebanese economy.

So, that’s why all Saudi threats regarding these two issues got neutralized by the Saudis’ Big Brother, which is the United States. So, that’s why I don’t believe that this would lead anywhere. And today we had another declaration by Saad Hariri calling for dialogue with Hezbollah. So, how would dialogue proceed with a party that was labeled by the Saudis as a terrorist group?

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