Jumblat: Progress Will Be Made on Lebanon when Iran Sanctions are Lifted
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stated that any improvement in political developments in Lebanon is linked to a regional agreement, most notably between Saudi Arabia and Iran, reported al-Akhbar newspaper on Wednesday.
He told the daily: “Iran is not in a hurry to resolve Lebanon's presidential deadlock. Once the West's sanctions against Tehran are lifted, then we can talk.”
“When Iranian officials say that they support whatever the Lebanese agree to, they mean that they do not want this agreement at the moment,” explained Jumblat.
“I believe that we need to have a president otherwise the state will be in danger,” he noted.
“I don't think that it is in Iran, Saudi Arabia or anyone else's interest to have the fragmentation of the state in Lebanon as we see today,” he continued.
Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor.
Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the polls.
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