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Let's speak to Paula Yakubian, an independent member of the Lebanese Parliament, speaking to us live from the capital, Beirut. Thank you for speaking to us, uh, Paula.
Now, what are your thoughts when you heard about this memorandum of understanding that's due to be signed on Friday between the US and Iran?
Let's hope it does not become a memorandum of misunderstanding. It's obvious till now that there is so much uh at stake. It's a it's a very fragile uh understanding till till now and uh I I guess Israel is trying to sabotage it. They tried to sabotage it in Lebanon few days ago. It did not work. But before the elections everything is possible.
And you just uh heard we from Isma Bay, that's the Iranian spokesperson mentioning Lebanon and its sovereignty a number of times. and it says that this war will only end if one of those stipulations are met and that includes Lebanon. What are your thoughts there?
Well, this war proved how important Hezbollah is for the Iranian regime. Hezbollah fought for Iran, not for the interest of Lebanon. it was the the the front the first front for the safeguard of the uh Iranian regime and they proved to be very effective for Iran. So it's very understandable that the Iranians were fighting till the last moment to include Lebanon in this deal. This is bad news for Israel. And you can hear today the screaming on X in the statements of Israelis from all sides from left and right. It's it's the same shock for for for the the Israelis.
Is it good news for Lebanon? It's not. Lebanon does not want to see legitimization of the occupation of Israel in southern Lebanon, nor a renewed uh uh kind of Iranian influence in Lebanon. Both are very bad for Lebanon. For in in a nutshell, this deal is extremely bad for Lebanon. Unfortunately, Lebanon is fragile, divided, and it paid the highest price during this war. Now today the corrupt that runs this country except the prime minister Salam the rest are the same maka that always ruled Lebanon. If this corrupt Huta decides to go to neutrality in Lebanon we might have a chance you know in the future to not to be the battlefield and the battleground again. until now I don't see how it will be more external influence more interest in in in Lebanon regional interest instead of really doing the interest and what's good for the Lebanese population.
Right as we speak there are Israeli troops in Lebanon right now in fact Israel's um defense minister says that they will continue to stay there despite any uh agreement what do you think the long-term plan is here for Israel is it planning to stay or is it just trying to disarm Hezbollah to ensure that there are no attacks on this country?
I I don't see a clear strategy for Israel when it comes to Lebanon. They thought it's going to be an easy war just like Trump thought that it's going to be an easy war against Iran. And he was he was fooled that the regime will change automatically once they can decapitate the Iranian leadership. it did not happen. This war wasn't well thought of. Uh when it comes to Lebanon or when it comes to the region or to Iran, it's the same thing. So uh now Israel is saying they will stay in in southern Lebanon, which means Lebanon's agony is still ongoing. The nightmare will continue. what Hezbollah will do if Iran is really willing to to honor its word in this deal. Uh so Hezbollah has to listen to Iran. This is also something that we learned the hard way in this war. Hezbollah listens only to Iran and it's it's it's a full proxy an Iranian asset in Lebanon. Nothing nothing more than this unfortunately. So it's all.
Paula sorry I just wanted to ask you because we're talking here about Israel and Hezbollah but of course there is the Lebanese government in all of this. In fact it's due to hold more negotiations with Israeli representatives. This is being brokered uh through the US uh in a few days time. What could or should the Lebanese government do to ensure uh that there is an end to the fighting in its own country and an end to the Israeli occupation?
The Lebanese government with Nawam is doing the right thing under the leadership also of Joseph. They're doing the right thing. They're trying to shield Lebanon from uh external interference uh to go to these negotiations uh you know as as Lebanese and and to defend Lebanese interest. However, we all know that Hezbollah is still here is a major player in in all of this uh negotiations uh which means that they can still sabotage any any negotiations and it's it's it's happening. I mean the facts now are bigger than any negotiation. Also, Israel did not take these negotiations seriously. They went with a lowlevel uh uh negotiators. Um they were dealing with it as if it was uh you know under American pressure only, not really to negotiate or to give something in return to strengthen the Libanese uh state versus Hezbollah. It's everyone is undermining uh the Libanese will to be a sovereign state and to be an independent at least to have independent decision when it comes to Libanese affairs. This is this is not happening and Lebanon is extremely weak, fragile and divided. This world came after a financial meltdown. One of one of the worst financial uh meltdown we have a sovereign prime minister but alone it it's not enough.
All right. Thank you very much for giving us an overview there of what's happening in Lebanon. Paula Yakoban, an independent member of the Lebanese Parliament, speaking to us from Beirut.