The head of Lebanon’s powerful Shiite movement
Hezbollah, Hasan Nasrallah Thursday said a tanker would set off from
Iran "within hours" to bring desperately needed fuel supplies to
Lebanon, in defiance of US sanctions.
اضافة اعلان
Nasrallah had previously said that he would turn to his movement's ally
Tehran if authorities failed to address acute and growing fuel shortages
brought on by an economic crisis the World Bank has described as one of the
planet's worst since the mid-19th century.
The move, prohibited by US sanctions on Iran's oil industry, could drag
Lebanon into the covert naval war between Tehran and Israel, and Nasrallah
dared Iran's foes to stop the shipment.
"The vessel, from the moment it sails in the coming hours until it
enters (Mediterranean) waters, will be considered Lebanese territory,"
Nasrallah said during a televised speech to mark the Shiite Muslim
commemoration of Ashura.
"To the Americans and Israelis, I say: its Lebanese territory."
He said a first ship would bring fuel but added more vessels would follow to
address shortages that have ground Lebanon to a halt.
Neither the Iranian nor the Lebanese governments have confirmed the
paramilitary organization’s claim.
Nasrallah did not specify where or how the shipment would reach Lebanon and
be offloaded.
Since February this year, Iran and Israel have been engaged in a
"shadow war" in which vessels linked to each nation have come under
attack in waters around the Gulf in tit-for-tat exchanges.
The bankrupt Lebanese state can no longer afford key imports nor subsidies
essential goods, leading to crippling and sometimes deadly shortages of
electricity, petrol and medicines among other things.
Without the diesel needed to power generators, Lebanese have faced power
cuts lasting up to 22 hours a day, with businesses, hospitals
and government offices forced shut.
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