Lebanese scoff at Nasrallah's claim to bring Iranian oil to help

As we mentioned last week, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has been trying to act as a hero to save Lebanon by organizing an Iranian oil tanker to deliver much needed fuel - and daring Israel and the US to stop it.

He doubled down, literally, on Sunday:

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday announced that a second ship carrying fuel will sail to Lebanon “within days.”

“Our first ship has become at sea, our second ship will sail within days and more ships will follow,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech commemorating Abbas al-Yatama, a Hizbullah military commander who died a week ago.

“We are seeking to alleviate the suffering and what we will bring will be for all Lebanese and all those living on Lebanese soil. It will not be for one Lebanese region without the other,” Nasrallah noted.

“We are not an alternative to the state in this matter or in any other matter. We cannot be so and we are not an alternative to the companies that import oil,” Hizbullah’s leader pointed out.

That bolded sentence shows how sensitive Nasrallah is to the criticisms of his first announcement.

He added for good measure, “If the (foreign) companies fear Israel and the sanctions, we are willing to bring an Iranian drilling company to extract offshore oil and gas, and let Israel bomb it,”

The Lebanese are not impressed.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday ridiculed Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s declared plans for bringing fuel ships from Iran.

“As for Sayyed Hassan’s promised ship, it is nothing but a silly little joke amid the tragedy that we are living,” Geagea said in a statement.

“Why hasn’t the Iranian oil solved Assad’s problem? It is noteworthy in this regard to mention that Syria’s fuel crisis is what amplified Lebanon’s fuel crisis due to the ongoing systematic smuggling,” the LF leader noted.

“My suggestion to Sayyed Hassan is for Iran to solve Syria’s fuel problem, which would instantly resolve half of Lebanon’s problem,” Geagea went on to say.

Hezbollah has been accused of smuggling fuel to Syria, so the Lebanese are cynical about their sudden interest in importing fuel. 

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