Speaking in an interview with the website of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, Dr. Seyed Razi Emadi referred to the pressures of the United States and the Zionist regime on Lebanon, especially on Hezbollah, in a situation where the country’s parliament continues to fail to elect a president, adding: During the last year, the United States mediated several times between the Zionist regime and Lebanon regarding the reduction of tensions and determination of the limits and benefits related to energy resources in the border areas, the two sides had reached an agreement to reduce tensions and Lebanon considered it a privilege for itself. Recently, the US is again trying to hold talks between Lebanon and Hezbollah with the Zionist regime.

He stated that the US administration considers Hezbollah to be terrorist and is trying to put pressure on Hezbollah through talks with the Lebanese government, adding: It seems that Hezbollah is establishing a military base in an area that the Israeli regime considers to belong to the occupied territories. This issue has caused tensions between the two sides. The US is worried that this tension will cause a conflict. Of course, this concern is primarily due to the Zionist regime because the US knows that this regime has faced its most unprecedented political crises in the past nine months, and even its army is fragile. This is because many soldiers have resigned from service in protest against Netanyahu and his government members, and the military does not have a suitable condition now.

The analyst of West Asia affairs, recalling that the Israeli regime did not last more than a few days in confrontation with the Palestinian groups as the third and weaker link of resistance, emphasized: In addition, the US knows that if a war breaks out now, it will have regional consequences and the regional players will also get involved in it. For this reason, the US is trying to establish dialogues between them and the Zionist regime to prevent a major crisis in Israel.

Stating that since 2006, there has not been a serious war between Hezbollah and the Zionist regime, and Hezbollah’s current situation is not at all comparable to that period; besides, a decade of war in Syria has made it more experienced, he said: In the last year, the conflict between the Palestinians and the Zionist regime intensified greatly. The operations of the Resistance Front are carried out inside the occupied territories and in the heart of Tel Aviv, and all those show that the intelligence, military, and defense vulnerability of the Zionist regime has increased.

The university professor also reminded that ten months have passed since the end of the presidency of “Michel Aoun” and the Lebanese parliament has convened twelve sessions to elect the president, and continued: Considering that the president must be elected from among Lebanese Christians, there is still no sign of an agreement for such a purpose. Even though the Lebanese parliament was able to introduce Michel Aoun as the new president after 30 months, this political crisis in introducing a new president is not a rare issue.

Saying that the Constitution of Lebanon and the Taif Agreement between Lebanese groups are basically the cause of the political crisis, he added: In the last meeting, the representative introduced by the Free National Movement won 59 votes. While to elect the president, 68 votes must be obtained in the first round, and 65 votes must be obtained in the second round. Considering that most members of the parliament are Hezbollah representatives, the situation is that it is impossible to introduce the president without Hezbollah’s approval.

Emadi stated: Unfortunately, we are now witnessing differences of opinion between Hezbollah and the Free National Movement, two groups aligned with each other before, in the president’s introduction. This is not good; they should solve this problem by talking to each other. Of course, some of such differences and crises are related to the power structure in that country, where positions are distributed and appointing positions requires consensus among groups. A consensus that is difficult to form.

The analyst of West Asia affairs explained that currently, the issue of prolongation of the presidential election goes back to the differences that have arisen between the Resistance Coalition and added: Even the Free National Movement has tried to agree with the anti-Hezbollah groups, but due to the fact that Hezbollah has the majority in the parliament, this agreement has not been reached yet.

He pointed to the unsuccessful efforts of the group of five consisting of France, the US, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar to solve the Lebanese problem. He stated: The process of developments in Lebanon is such that there is a possibility of prolonging this political crisis and that Lebanese political groups can soon reach a conclusion and agree in the next one or two months. But there is this concern about Lebanon that, basically, the power structure and political groups have reached a peaceful coexistence with the interim government and the existence of a power vacuum. Apparently, the presence or absence of the president does not matter much to them. This is a terrible event. But it seems that they are used to such conditions, and negotiations and bargaining do not reach results in those conditions.

Emphasizing that such conditions in Lebanon are favorable to the Zionist regime above all others and that this regime welcomes the existence of the interim government, which are basically weak governments, in the countries that are members of the Resistance Front, he said: Even the Americans, despite participating in the five-party talks have not shown much serious will for this issue, because the continuation of this situation in Lebanon is in the interest of the Zionist regime. They do not see much reason to end this situation in Lebanon. Lebanese groups must reach a realistic understanding and dedication at the national level to be able to resolve such crises for the benefit of the national interest.

He continued: Although Saudi Arabia has influence and intervention in Lebanon, it tries not to seriously interfere in the developments of other countries by focusing on its development and economic plans not to spoil its image. Under the current conditions, Saudi Arabia states that the Lebanese should solve their own problems, and it seems that Lebanon is not a priority for Saudi Arabia in the current situation.