Hezbollah flags in Lebanon
Photo: Reuters
Hezbollah: Lebanon ungrateful to Tehran
MP says Lebanese group dismayed at government's abstention from UN vote on new Iran sanctions
Hezbollah criticized the Lebanese government Saturday for abstaining from a UN vote on an additional round of sanctions on Iran, which was passed earlier this week.
Hassan Fadlallah, an MP of the Hezbollah bloc in the Lebanese government, said Lebanon was the "big loser" at the vote because it had not opposed the sanctions resolution. It was backed by 12 states and rejected by Turkey and Brazil.
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In a televised interview, the MP said the decision to impose additional sanctions on Tehran was "unjustified", adding that Hezbollah commended "Turkey and Brazil's healthy logic".
But Beirut, he said, had proved it was incapable of becoming an influential power in the world. Fadlallah added that Iran had only been hit with sanctions because it supports Lebanon rather than Israel. "Beirut has shown ingratitude towards Tehran," he said.
After the resolution was passed Lebanon's ambassador to the United Nations, Nawaf Salam, criticized the sanctions and accused the UN of being "selective" on nuclear issues.
"Israel is the only country in the region with nuclear weapons, and it must open up its facilities to the International Atomic Energy Agency," he said.
