MP Fadi Karam said that the remarks of U.S. Ambassador Michel Issa reflect “exceptional interest by the U.S. administration in the situation in Lebanon, an interest directly linked to its president, Donald Trump, something rarely seen in the Lebanese context.”
Karam called for “making use of this political and international moment to put Lebanon back on the path of an actual state, rather than allowing it to remain an open arena for Iranian influence.”
In a related context, he pointed out that “the President of the Republic is continuing the course of negotiations, and that any meeting or proposal on the dialogue table, including what is being circulated about possible meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, remains within the President’s assessment of the existing situation,” adding that “this course is being pursued in order to save Lebanon amid the current challenges.”
Karam considered that “the U.S. role in Lebanon comes at Lebanon’s request, and that this intervention helped prevent a greater escalation that could have led to widespread destruction in the country, making it a friendly intervention aimed at supporting Lebanon’s stability in the face of what he described as attempts at political usurpation.”
Commenting on the positions of Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem, Karam described his statements as “a paradox between tragedy and irony,” considering that “his rhetoric is based on an ideological system tied more to Iran than to the Lebanese national interest,” as he put it, noting that “it is not possible to speak of genuine internal consensus under this approach.”
Karam concluded by stressing that “the gateway to stability begins with handing over weapons to the Lebanese Army, and only then can a new phase of understanding among the Lebanese begin, بعيداً عن منطق السلاح والانقسام.”
