Tabbara: New US Sanctions Unlikely to Influence Lebanon, US-Iran War Unlikely

The former Lebanese Ambassador to Washington Riad Tabbara said the new round of US sanctions on Hizbullah are unlikely to have serious consequences on Lebanon, pointing out that a US-Persian war is “unlikely,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday.

In an interview with the daily, Tabbara said he “expects a kind of understanding between Hizbullah and the competent Lebanese authorities, as experienced in the previous US sanctions on Hizbullah, because the party is part of the Lebanese government and parliament.

“An understanding was reached between Hizbullah and authorities in Lebanon when the US imposed the previous sanctions, mainly that the sanctions targeted the financial situation and the banking sector. Everybody remembers the Lebanese delegations that visited Washington earlier this year and the year before,” noted Tabbara.

He said the “US policy towards Lebanon, so far, shows that it does not want political, economic or financial instability in Lebanon. That is why solutions are always available for any measure or sanction taken in this regard.”

“It is unlikely for the US to impose sanctions on Hizbullah’s allies, such as the AMAL Movement and Free Patriotic Movement and others, because such a move leads to dramatic results,” he added. “The Americans usually study every measure they take in Lebanon, especially in terms of its impact on its economic situation.”

He pointed out that the latest statements of the US State Department and Treasury “included no negative signals. The US does not want to threaten Lebanon’s stability.”

“The United States is in the context of escalating pressure on Iran to subdue and bring it to the negotiation table. There is no war on the horizon,” he said.

New U.S. sanctions on Hizbullah early this week targeted two of the group’s lawmakers and a security official allegedly suspected of using their positions to further the aims of the group and Tehran's “malign” activities.