Iran’s top diplomat has pushed back on remarks Lebanese President Joseph Aoun made in a CNN interview that Tehran is using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its war with the US and Israel.
Aoun delivered a searing rebuke to Iran in an exclusive interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Friday, saying Tehran’s actions were against the wishes of the Lebanese people.
Responding to the clip of the CNN interview, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said: “Had Lebanon been a bargaining chip for Iran, we’d have a deal long ago.”
“Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President,” he added, in an apparent reference to Israel –– which has been conducting an intense military operation targeting the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon since early March.
In the CNN interview, Aoun also said that he is committed to doing “whatever it takes” to save his country from conflict, and that the Lebanese people are “fed up” with war between Israel and Hezbollah, a heavily armed Iranian-backed proxy that has built strong domestic support by portraying itself as the defender of southern Lebanon and the Palestinian people.
CNN’s Mostafa Salem contributed to this report.
