The United States has set a “red line” that Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah should not be a member of Lebanon’s next government after its military defeat by Israel last year, US deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus says in Lebanon.
Ortagus is the first senior US official to visit Lebanon since US President Donald Trump took office and since Joseph Aoun was elected president in Lebanon.
Her visit comes amid a stalled cabinet formation process in Lebanon, where government posts are apportioned on sectarian lines. Hezbollah’s ally Amal has insisted on approving all Shi’ite Muslim ministers, keeping the process in a deadlock.
Speaking to reporters after meeting President Aoun, Ortagus says she is “not afraid” of “Hezbollah “because they’ve been defeated militarily.”
She says that the US has “set clear red lines” to ensure that Hezbollah “won’t be able to terrorize the Lebanese people, and that includes by being a part of the government,” she says.
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