Lebanon: US tries to block Hezbollah oil imports from Iran

The US and Lebanon’s Hezbollah are in conflict over the potential delivery of Iranian oil to the crisis-torn country — where locals are desperate to obtain fuel.

Iran, which is hit by US sanctions for oil sales, has offered the delivery to Lebanon at a low price: Iran could supply fuel to Lebanon in local pounds, avoiding a foreign currency crunch.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday repeated pledges to import Iranian fuel should shortages across the country persist, saying that all logistical steps for that possibility were complete.

It is not clear whether the actual oil delivery would be covered by sanctions, but it is certain that any private company involved in storing or using the oil would be subject to them. Nasrallah has claimed that “all the logistics required are in place.”

US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea had replied to the Hezbollah announcement with a tweet, saying that the import of fuel from Iran is “really not a solution” for crisis-hit Lebanon.

“What Iran is looking for is some kind of satellite state that they can exploit to pursue their agenda,” Shea said.

“There are other alternatives to provide fuel and electricity to the Lebanese people,” the ambassador went on to say, noting that eradicating corruption is one of the solutions.

“There are much better solutions than turning to Iran,” she added.

The Iranian embassy in Lebanon on Saturday lashed out at the US ambassador’s comments. “The arrival of Iranian oil tankers in Beirut is not hinging on the trifles of U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea,” the embassy tweeted.

“The ambassador should not interfere in the brotherly relations between the two countries and between the Iranian and Lebanese peoples,” the embassy added.

There had been recent announcements that the US sanctions on Iranian oil are to be removed shortly. The US, however, has not confirmed this.