Hezbollah deplores Lebanese authorities’ ban on Iranian plane under Israeli threats

Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement has identified Iran as a brotherly nation, denouncing Lebanese authorities’ preventing an Iranian plane from landing in Beirut under Israeli threats and pressure.

News ID: 6015

Date: 16 February 2025 - 11:09

TABNAK, Feb 16: “Iran is a friendly state,” Mahmoud Qamati, Deputy Head of Hezbollah's Political Council, said in the Lebanese capital, addressing a protest held by the Lebanese people against the Israeli regime’s interference in Lebanon, and its deadly violations of the country’s sovereignty.

He emphasized the historical and strategic ties between Iran and Lebanon, describing the Islamic Republic as a country that had consistently supported Lebanon without imposing conditions.

"If you, politicians, choose to submit, the resistance people reject American and Israeli humiliation and will never accept it," the official warned.

"We refuse to be under American occupation. We are patient, but our patience has limits," Qamati declared, condemning a subsequent ban that was imposed on Iranian flights as an "insult to the Lebanese state" and proof of "American dictates" being imposed on the country.

The decision to block Iranian flights, Qamati argued, reflected Lebanon's submission to external pressures. "We do not accept that our homeland be under American and Israeli control," he reiterated.

The Lebanese demonstrators likewise voiced their rejection of, what they described as, American and Israeli attempts to dominate the country.

The protest was reportedly confronted by Lebanese forces, who threw teargas canisters at the participants.

The Israeli threats that pressured Beirut into cancelling the Iranian flights came while, according to the international aviation laws, civilian airports are protected from military threats.

Iran too has condemned the Lebanese government's decision, reiterating its support for Lebanon's sovereignty.

Iranian officials have underscored that Tehran remained a reliable ally for Lebanon, offering assistance to the country in various sectors, from energy to reconstruction efforts, without infringing on its independence.

The Hezbollah official, meanwhile, used the occasion to denounce Israeli presence in southern Lebanon.

"The resistance will continue to pursue the withdrawal of the enemy from southern Lebanon and will not accept any official stance that extends the enemy’s presence on our land," Qamati asserted.

The violations continue, despite the Israeli regime’s approval of a ceasefire deal in November that is expected to end its more than a year of deadly escalation against Lebanon that claimed the lives of more than 3,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and leaders such as the movement’s revered former secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.