Senior member of Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement Ghaleb Abu Zeinab has censured the Lebanese government’s handling of the Thursday crisis at the capital Beirut’s airport, stressing that maintaining fair relations with Iran is in Lebanon’s interest.
Ghaleb, an official member of Hezbollah Politburo, made the statement in an interview with al-Manar’s TV channel, following violent protests that broke out across roads leading to Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport in response to a decision by the Lebanon’s government to “temporarily” ban Iranian planes from touching down.
“The Lebanese government’s stance on what happened at the airport in Beirut following the refusal of an Iranian plane carrying Lebanese passengers to land was not correct and promising,” Abu Zeinab said, Press TV reported.
He said, “It is in Lebanon’s interest that its relations with Iran are at their best,” he said, adding, “We call on Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to act on the path of balanced relations with Iran and the United States, and the Lebanese government should not be submissive to the dictates of the US government.”
Lebanon’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on Thursday it had “temporarily rescheduled” some flights including from Iran until February 18 as it was implementing “additional security measures.”
Later in the day, a crowd of Lebanese people blocked roads to the Beirut airport and burned tires to protest Lebanon’s decision.
After the airport protests, authorities said they were working to bring back Lebanese passengers abandoned in Iran with planes belonging to the Beirut-based Middle East Airlines.
bd-pratidin/GR
