A convoy of oil tanker vehicles carrying Iranian fuel has arrived in Lebanon, both Iranian news channel Press TV and Lebanese media have reported.
The tankers loaded with Iranian mazut entered the village of Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali in Lebanon’s northeastern Baalbek-Hermel province on Thursday.
The media director of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah said that the tankers will first stop between the villages of Ain and Laboueh, and that their last station would be the entrance to southern Baalbek.
Speaking on Wednesday night, Hezbollah General Secretary Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah urged people not to gather to observe the convoy, both for their own safety and for the sake of the smooth movement of the tankers.
Announcing that ships carrying Iranian fuel would set sail for Lebanon last month, Sayyid Nasrallah warned the Israeli regime and the US that the resistance group regarded the convoy as “part of Lebanese soil.”
Lebanese media said that Iran’s fuel shipment to Lebanon “will open a new horizon in relations between the two countries, and set the stage for the defeat of US hegemony in the region.”
Earlier, Hezbollah Deputy General Secretary, Sheikh Naim Qassem, described the shipment as “a political, social and moral achievement in the face of the US oppression.”
“The Americans were surprised to see that Iranian fuel-laden vessels have broken the siege of Lebanon and provided the Lebanese with this vital product.”
In early September, Iranian ships unloaded their fuel cargo at Syria’s Baniyas port, from where it was transferred to Lebanon via tanker vehicles.
Lebanon has been mired in a deep financial crisis since late 2019, which has caused the Lebanese pound to lose around 90 percent of its value compared to the dollar.
Severe fuel shortages and wide-scale power cuts have paralysed the country as well, as a result of corruption, cronyism and the repercussions of heavy US sanctions on trading partners Syria and Iran.
The US has exacerbated the crisis by imposing a siege on Lebanon, in a bid to force the formation of a pro-US government there.
The petroleum shortage in Lebanon had reached catastrophic proportions in recent months, leading to Hezbollah taking the lead in ensuring a much-needed supply from Iran. The arrival of the fuel marks the de facto breaking of US-imposed economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Two Lebanese governments have to internal and external pressure since 2019, with the latest period without an official cabinet lasting 13 months. Despite US pressure and threats however, on September 10 Lebanon announced the formation of a new government led by Prime Minister Najib Mikati, composed for a major part out of parties that are highly critical or even opposed to US designs in Lebanon, and counting several ministers from Hezbollah.
Source: Press TV
