The statements of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered from the White House Monday gave a new impetus to reports linked to US sanctions that might affect Speaker Nabih Berri and his Amal Movement due to their longstanding ties with Hezbollah and Iran.
MP Yassin Jaber, head of the parliament committee on Foreign Affairs told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday that Lebanon is currently looking at the new information.
“Until this hour, there is no decision or official position other than Pompeo’s statements,” he said.
On Monday, Pompeo said that during his recent trip to Beirut, he made clear to the Lebanese leadership, including in conversations with Berri, that America was not going to tolerate the continued rise of Hezbollah in the country.
“This is about armed forces inside the country of Lebanon. We made very clear that we were going to continue to evaluate sanctions for all those that were connected to (Hezbollah),” Pompeo told reporters.
Jaber is currently in Washington as part of a parliamentary delegation attending meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
MP Mohammed Nasrallah from Amal said Monday it has not yet received any official signs that the US was considering sanctions on Berri or any other official from the Movement.
But, Nasrallah said that in all cases, one should take the current information into consideration.
“Pompeo’s statements kept the door open to all possibilities and it is important during this phase to wait and see how things will unfold,” the MP said.
He revealed that the deputies’ presence in Washington was not linked to the new sanctions that might affect Berri.
Sources from the Amal Movement also told Asharq Al-Awsat they were not informed about any official decision linked to the US sanctions.
“But, we expect anything from the US administration after its recent decisions related to the region, the last of which was a decision to recognize Israel's territorial claim to the occupied Syrian Golan Heights,” the sources said.
On Monday, Trump formally announced his administration’s plan to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, including its Quds Force, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
