Is Lebanon caught in the crossfire of the current US-Iranian standoff?
With Iranian-backed Hezbollah playing a role in Lebanon's government, how much might the country suffer in case of a military confrontation between Washington and Tehran?
BEIRUT — A general look at Lebanon’s financial history shows that the country is influenced by the political and security situations in the region. As Lebanon is waiting for $11 billion in soft loans and grants it had secured from international donors in the Paris conference in April 2018 to bolster the country's dwindling economic growth, the shadow of a major standoff between the United States and Iran is looming on the horizon.
Tensions between the United States and Iran have been gradually building up for months. Washington withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, launching an all-out pressure campaign against Tehran, which started lashing out. In June, the standoff began to spiral as Iran downed a US military drone and President Donald Trump called off a retaliatory strike on Iran.
The escalation against Tehran has affected Lebanon, namely Hezbollah. On July 9, the US Treasury placed three Hezbollah members on its sanctions blacklists, including the head of the party’s parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, Beirut member of parliament Amin Sherri and Wafiq Safa, a top Hezbollah security official. Washington said Hezbollah is providing support to terrorist organizations. The United States has designated Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
This suggests that Lebanon is likely to serve as a point of some sort of conflict between the two antagonists. The pertinent question, however, is how this situation will affect Lebanon’s financial situation.
