A White House statement called out Iranian weapons transfers to Hezbollah terrorists.
By United With Israel Staff
Citing Iranian weapons transfers to Hezbollah, President Joe Biden on Tuesday extended a state of emergency with respect to Lebanon.
A White House statement cited Iranian weapons transfers to the Hezbollah terror organization as the reason.
“Certain ongoing activities, such as Iran’s continuing arms transfers to Hezbollah — which include increasingly sophisticated weapons systems — serve to undermine Lebanese sovereignty, contribute to political and economic instability in the region, and continue to constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. For this reason, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13441 with respect to Lebanon.”
Executive Order 13441 was first issued in 2007 by president George Bush Jr. citing Hezbollah’s growing influence over the Lebanese institutions.
This executive order lays the legal groundwork for sanctions on Lebanese individuals and institutions accused of undermining democracy, the rule of law, Lebanese sovereignty, or employing violence for political ends. Such acts are deemed threats to “the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”
If not for the annual renewal by presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, sanctions — most notably on Hezbollah personalities and Lebanese banks financing their activities — would collapse.
Hezbollah is now trying to make Lebanon financially dependent on Iran.
Lebanon’s economy has collapsed after years of government mismanagement and corruption. Inflation has wiped out people’s savings. Food prices have soared 700 percent, and fuel shortages are chronic. The Lebanese government resigned in August, 2020 in the aftermath of a massive explosion in the Beirut port. Prime Minister-designate Sa’ad Hariri resigned after spending nearly an entire year fruitlessly trying to form a new government.
Earlier in July, Defense Minister Benny Gantz proposed sending humanitarian aid to Lebanon, which Beirut rejected.
Hezbollah is believed to have as many as 150,000 rockets and missiles, in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for the terror group’s disarming.
Israel recently released intelligence showing Hezbollah storing rockets, military-grade explosives and other weapons a mere 25 meters in a residential building 25 meters from a school in southern Lebanese village of Ebba.