Hezbollah Will Not Hand Over Its Arms, Will Resist US Plots

In a recent interview in Lebanon, Adnan Hussein, the former Lebanese minister of state for social affairs in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Saad Hariri went through the developments in Lebanon and the stance of the resistance in the current situation of the country, especially after the third visit of American envoy Tom Barrack to Lebanon. He also touched upon the crimes committed by the Zionist regime in Lebanon and the region. Mehr's questions and the minister's responses are as follows:

In response to the question on Barak's recent visit to Lebanon, the Ex-Lebanese minister said that "On Tom Brock's third trip to Lebanon, he expressed his disappointment, because he thought he would receive a different response from Lebanese President General Joseph Aoun than what he had previously received from Lebanese officials. This expression of frustration can be interpreted as more pressure awaits Lebanon, a pressure that will increase if it does not respond more positively to the American plot. Increased pressure would mean allowing the Zionist regime to act more freely in Lebanon. This more freedom of action would mean ignoring the killings and the continuous flight of Zionist regime's drones in the skies of Lebanon and causing panic in Lebanon from Tripoli and the northern Bekaa."

In response to the question whether Washington will ever put pressure on the Zionist Israeli regime, Hussein noted that different US administrations exerted pressure on Lebanon.

"The Biden administration gave Tel Aviv all the weapons and means of destruction it needed."

"The West as a whole does not put pressure on the Zionists, the US administration has not, nor will it put any pressure on Israel. Look, what is happening in Gaza. It bears testimony to that fact. Hamas has proposed several initiatives that the Zionists have rejected. The US administration always considers Tel Aviv to be the right side and does not say at all that Hamas is right. The US always claims that Israel needs to defend itself. The same scenario still prevails in the White House. No one could think that the US administration will one day put pressure on the Zionist regime," he explained..

In reply to the question about the American project and Washington's attempt to play an alleged mediating role in the wake of Israel's increasing and relentless aggression and also the question "why have the resistance and the Lebanese government institutions rejected those proposals?" the former Lebanese minister noted that, "The resistance in Lebanon rejected the American initiative, especially its final version. They want to go beyond Resolution 1701 regarding the obligations of the Zionist regime, while Israel is compliant with nothing, but it has demanded that Hezbollah’s weapons be handed over throughout Lebanon. Can anyone accept such a scenario? When the United States abandons the role of impartial mediator and becomes a full partner in the Zionist regime’s aggression, what will the resistance say? What will the Lebanese authorities say? It is natural for Hezbollah to hold its weapons tight."

In response to the question, "Given the position adopted by the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, what is your take on the internal situation in Lebanon at the current stage? Can American envoys still incite a team of Lebanese against the resistance?" Hussein said that "Of course, there is a serious risk facing the domestic politics in Lebanon in terms of creating a split in its internal fabric, which is what the United States is doing now in all Arab countries. One can see what happened in Syria and Iraq, and also what happened before that in Libya, Yemen, Somalia and other countries from Afghanistan to North Africa. The main danger is the disagreement of the Lebanese over the promises made by the United States. We call for distrust in the promises of the United States. The best response to all the pressures of the United States and the aggressions of Israel is national unity. From this perspective, we believe that the best response is maintaining national unity of Lebanon and keeping unity among its officials and people. The media should not drown in the quagmire of American promises, and should pay attention to what the American government has done in the public opinion of Lebanon and the Arab world over the past decades, especially after the end of the Soviet Union [hegemony]."

He went on to conclude that "Lebanon's prime responsibility is to keep its unity. This unity is stronger than any weapon that the Lebanese army or the Lebanese resistance has. If this unity is achieved, we can take strategic and tactical steps based on that unity to confront Israeli aggression."