TEHRAN - A newly appointed U.S. envoy said on Friday that she hoped Lebanese authorities were committed to making sure that Hezbollah isn’t a part of the new government in any form, AP reported on Friday.

After a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Morgan Ortagus, the US deputy special envoy for the Middle East, told a news conference, “It is thanks to the Lebanese President Aoun and the Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam and everyone in this government… committed to making sure that Hezbollah is not a part of the new government in any form.”

She added, “We have set clear red lines from the United States that they (Hezbollah) won’t be able to terrorize the Lebanese people, and that includes by being a part of the government.”

This shocking interference in the process of forming government in Lebanon by the Trump administration in Lebanon is disgusting and destabilizing.

The Trump administration will be pushing Lebanon toward anarchy if its unabashed meddling is translated into reality. While the Lebanese people were eying their hopes on the end of a years-long political stalemate and presidential vacuum such remarks by Ortagus are dangerously counterproductive.

The Lebanese were heartened when the Lebanese parliament on January 10 elected army chief Joseph Aoun as the country’s new president and he on January 13 designated Nawaf Salam, the Lebanese president of the International Court of Justice, as prime minister to form a government. Amidst this positive course of events, suddenly Ortagus comes to Lebanon and says Hezbollah, which forms an important percentage of the Lebanese population should not have a share in the government.

Either Ortagus and her superiors in the State Department are ignorant of the Lebanese religious, social, and political structure or they are living in a fantasy world. It seems that Ortagus and her superiors are in the wrong job. They are stupid enough that Hezbollah in particular and the Shiites in general are an inseparable part of Lebanese society.   

The Lebanese people, both the public and officials, are well aware that it will be impossible to run the country without the involvement of the Shiite population loyal to Hezbollah. It is impossible to have a prosperous Lebanon without involving all groups.

Additionally, not involving Hezbollah in the government is anti-democratic and contravenes what the U.S. claims it stands for.

Both President Aoun and Prime Minister Salam are aware that it is just an illusion to ignore Shias.

It is for this reason that Lebanon’s presidency said in a statement on X: “Some of what was issued by the U.S. Deputy Envoy to the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, from Baabda expresses her point of view, and the Presidency is not concerned with it.”

That is why the Shiite duo was allowed on Saturday to choose four of the new cabinet's members, including Finance Minister Yassin Jaber, and the fifth was given a nod of approval.

Power sharing is now considered a principle in the world of politics.  How is it possible to deny a share for the Shiites who account for about 31 percent of the country’s population?  

Except for a few extremist politicians or minority groups, parliamentary blocs in Lebanon believe that it is not possible to exclude the Shiites, including Hezbollah.

Ortagus made Lebanon unsettled through her unmeasured and unrealistic remarks. Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan, a senior Shiite cleric and staunch Hezbollah ally, said in a statement that “Hezbollah is a national and representative force of Lebanon.”

According to AP, Qabalan added, “Sovereignty belongs solely to Lebanon and its national components, not to America and its exclusionary and destructive projects.” He affirmed, “A government without the national duo (Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, both Shiite parties) pushes the country into the unknown.”

In her press conference, Ortagus also backed Israel’s attack on Lebanon without considering the feelings of the Lebanese.  Inside Lebanon, she offensively said, “We are grateful to our ally Israel for defeating Hezbollah.”

Without the exception of treasonous persons or politicians, all the Lebanese with different political tendencies hate Israel. Their memories are filled with the occupation regime’s cruel wars on their country and other fellow Arab countries. However, Ortagus is stupid enough to understand the feelings of the Lebanese about Israel.