Lebanon chooses to reclaim its land

The moment of truth has arrived. Lebanon stands before two choices, with no third option: either reclaim its land through direct negotiations with Israel, or allow the occupation to continue by submitting to Iran and its Lebanese tool, "Hezbollah."

Lebanon has chosen to reclaim its land. The key point in the bold speech delivered by President Joseph Aoun to the Lebanese people is the one related to reaching "permanent agreements" with Israel in light of achieving a ceasefire. What is required is to build on the ceasefire instead of continuing to trade on Lebanon and its people, especially the people of the South.

The President deliberately emphasized Lebanon's complete exit from the Iranian game by rightfully ignoring any role for the "Islamic Republic" in reaching the ceasefire. In contrast, he stressed the role of "friend" President Donald Trump and the Arab group, "foremost among them the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." This will undoubtedly provoke the anger of Iran and "Hezbollah" against a president who seeks to get rid of the occupation and facilitate the return of the displaced to their villages.

The ceasefire in Lebanon was achieved after Presidents Joseph Aoun and Nawaf Salam realized that there was no benefit in a partial exit from the Iranian game. It's either a complete exit or Lebanon remains another victim of the expansionist Iranian project and the dead end it has reached.

Presidents Joseph Aoun and Nawaf Salam realized there was no benefit in a partial exit from the Iranian game. It's either a complete exit or Lebanon remains another victim of the expansionist Iranian project.

Iran's problem with Lebanon seems infinitely complex. This is originally due to Iran's inability to understand Lebanon's composition and its complex formula on one hand, and the refusal of the majority of Lebanese to see their country fall under Iranian hegemony immediately after freeing itself from Syrian tutelage.

But Iran's biggest complex remains its discovery that its investment in "Hezbollah," an investment more than forty years old, was misplaced. All the billions that the "Islamic Republic" invested have gone in vain, whether in Lebanon or in Syria as well.

One must understand Iran's situation and the complex that Lebanon has caused it. The complex lies in the "Islamic Republic's" inability to adapt to the change that has occurred in the region. The best expression of this change is that the current war is, in fact, taking place within Iran itself. The day is not far when this war will expose the failure of the regime established by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, which was fundamentally based on the slogan of "exporting the revolution."
47 years after the establishment of the "Islamic Republic," the slogan raised by Tehran has backfired on those who raised it. The majority of its citizens refuse to have this Iranian slogan backfire on Lebanon as well.

Ultimately, the Iranian regime could not continue to defend itself by exporting its crises beyond its borders. There had to be an end to a game that was both tedious and dangerous. This game relied on the naivety of successive American administrations since the era of Jimmy Carter on one hand, and on Israeli complicity on the other. Israel played all the roles required of it by Iran to serve its interests, which are based on fragmenting the region.

It seems that the "Islamic Republic" does not currently know how to lose, just as it did not know how to win in a phase where it considered itself in control of four Arab capitals, including Beirut.

The rules of the regional game, which were primarily based on American leniency and Israeli complicity with Tehran, have changed. The region, including Israel, changed after October 7, 2023. The "Islamic Republic" did not even grasp the meaning of no longer being the party that decides who the president of Lebanon is.

One cannot forget that "Hezbollah" imposed Michel Aoun as president on October 31, 2016. At the same time, one cannot ignore that Joseph Aoun reached the Baabda Palace in early 2025 against the will of Iran and "Hezbollah."

The fact remains that truth and reality are one thing, while illusion is another. Michel Aoun, with his son-in-law Gebran Bassil, was merely a tool for "Hezbollah," meaning a tool for the Iranian tool. The different regional circumstances, especially with the major change that occurred in Syria, allow the current President of the Lebanese Republic to emerge from under Iranian hegemony and to be a true president for Lebanon, despite the occasional lack of clarity in vision at the Baabda Palace...

The simple matter is that Iran does not know how to lose, as happened with Germany and Japan. It seems that the "Islamic Republic" does not currently know how to lose, just as it did not know how to win in a phase where it considered itself in control of four Arab capitals, including Beirut.

What is important for a country like Lebanon is to know how to lose and to emerge from under the Iranian cloak for good. The country has few options and will have to pay the price of a "war imposed upon it," in the words of Nawaf Salam.

Through Joseph Aoun's speech, Lebanon has shown that it truly wants to go beyond reaching a ceasefire with Israel, for which it will have to make unavoidable concessions. The sooner Lebanon accepts the conditions that can lead to a permanent ceasefire, the better it will be for the mercy of the South and its people. Just as Iran negotiates with America, Lebanon must negotiate with Israel without any complexes.

When the "Islamic Republic" shows no mercy to the people of the South and the South with its villages and cities, Lebanon has no choice but to place its own interest above any other, especially above the interest of Iran. It should take note that the country has no cards to play against a monster named Benjamin Netanyahu other than direct talks with "Bibi." Such talks could be useful, at a certain stage, to go beyond a ceasefire... and to explore whether there is a way to end the occupation in exchange for a price that must be paid. It is the price of "Hezbollah's" complete subservience to the "Islamic Republic"...