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Lebanon's abstention on Iran sanctions resolution seen as balancing act
![[EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images] Nawwaf Salam (C), Lebanon's UN ambassador to the UN, speaks to colleagues after a vote on sanctions against Iran.](/cocoon/meii/images/2010/06/16/100616-feature-1-photoAP.jpg) [EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images] Nawwaf Salam (C), Lebanon's UN ambassador to the UN, speaks to colleagues after a vote on sanctions against Iran. |
Lebanon's decision to abstain from voting on the United Nations Security Council imposing sanctions on Iran reflects a balancing act between different interests at home and abroad, Lebanese analysts and politicians said.
A resolution imposing a fourth round of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme passed last week with 12 "yes", two "no" from Brazil and Turkey, and one abstention from Lebanon.
Lebanon's abstention came following a debate in the country that split the cabinet between those favouring abstention and those calling for a vote against the sanctions.
The government ultimately asked the Lebanese ambassador to the UN, Nawwaf Salam, to say the cabinet did not reach an agreement and to abstain from the vote.
Hizbullah officials, who had called for a "no" vote, criticised the decision.
"Lebanon is not a major state and is not the size of Turkey and Brazil," said Ammar Houri of Prime Minister Saad Hariri's Future bloc, which favoured the abstention.
"It is a small country and it is not in its interest to come between the big players, that is, between the international community represented by the Big Five and other countries on one hand and a regional state in the area on the other," he told Al-Shorfa.
Houri said voting against the sanctions would have been unwise for Lebanon because "it has important matters due such as the renewal of the international peace keeping forces operating in Southern Lebanon, 'UNIFIL', as well as a variety of assistance packages from the international community."
Simon Abi Ramia, Member of MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform Bloc, which called for a vote against the sanctions, objected to Lebanon spreading "the policy of non-decision making that is carried out on domestic issues to its positions outside the country".
He said the statement of Lebanon's representative in the UN Security Council that his government was unable to take a clear position delivers a "negative image" about the country.
Abi Ramia said differing Arab approaches towards the Iranian nuclear file have prevented Lebanon from making a decision. "There are Arab countries that do not express honestly what they secretly want, which put Lebanon in this embarrassing position," he said.
But he added that Lebanon continues to be the focal point of Arab and regional struggles and that any decision at the regional level will place it in a difficult position.
Arab countries did not issue a statement on the Iranian nuclear issue during the Arab League summit in Libya, which saw low-level representation by Lebanon, regarded as the Arab group's representative at the UN Security Council.
A proposal from Arab League Chief Amr Moussa to start talking to Iran about its nuclear ambitions failed to gain consensus.
Houri said Hariri was made aware of the Arab position during recent visits to Arab countries, making it necessary for him to "take the [abstention] position that was taken".
International law professor Shafiq Masri described Lebanon's abstention as a "balanced position between the various parties", adding that "refraining from voting does not constitute a provocation inside Lebanon or abroad".
"Lebanon's behaviour and its position in the Council earned it a status of moderation and balance and it was able to leave without any blame noted down against it by any country," he told Al-Shorfa.
However, he said Lebanon is under the guardianship of the United Nations through all the international resolutions that the Security Council has issued in its favour.
"Therefore, Lebanon should not hasten to reject a resolution that evidently has been unanimously approved by the permanent members in addition to European countries outside the Council, which might look like Lebanon rejecting a Security Council resolution", he added.
Lebanon was elected to membership of the Security Council for the years 2010 and 2011. It is the second time it occupies this position.
Reader Comments
The words of Muhalem, Bashar al-Assad, Hassan Nasrallah and Aoun are all deception, lies and misleading. Iran now is like a mad dog; what would it be like if it possessed the atomic bomb? There is no Arab country to oppose such a hateful and aggressive state. I do not understand the secret behind the West’s silence towards such a rogue state.
How could individual countries, such as Iran and Turkey, prove their importance to the world, as they have become an influential force in the Middle East, while there is no influential Arab country among the 22 in the Middle East? Then, why do the Arab countries envy these countries instead of standing with them? Could Islam have been spread in Asia and Europe had the Persians and the Turks not supported the Arabs?!!! Why all this uproar against Iran with an illegitimate occupation and nonexistent nuclear weapons, and not against the reality (or real threat) of Israel? Thank you.
The good relations between Iran and Lebanon made the latter abstain from voting for the resolution to impose sanctions on Iran by the Security Council. Lebanon receives all means of financial and moral support from Iran. Moreover, in Lebanon, there is an important and effective military wing that is strongly linked to Iran. The Lebanese government cannot overlook this wing, which is Hezbollah. Hezbollah is an armed militia that is very effective in the Lebanese political movement and does not want the Lebanese government to adopt any attitude that is opposed to Iran, because Iran provides a lot of services to Lebanon and Hezbollah: It trains members of Hezbollah and provides them with the weapons and ammunition they need. Moreover, Iran provides a lot of media support to Hezbollah. For these reasons, Lebanon abstained from voting, although it is convinced that Iran is threatening the security and peace of the whole region, is interfering in the affairs of many countries, and is trying to get a nuclear weapon to threaten the whole world. However, due to the pressure that cannot be ignored, which was exerted by Hezbollah on the government, and due to the harmony between Iran and Lebanon, and because Lebanon did not want to be take an embarrassing attitude towards Iran, it abstained from voting for the resolution to impose new sanctions on Iran by the Security Council.
Of course it is not strange that Lebanon voted against the Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on Iran, because Lebanon has Hezbollah which is loyal to Iran and is an armed terrorist movement that has full control over Lebanon entirely. Hezbollah has the majority of the Lebanese Parliament, and it can control the government and the streets of Lebanon. There is no doubt that Hezbollah is a strategic partner of the Iranian regime, which provides it with all the donations it needs, such as money, light weapons and Iranian-made rockets, which have been previously used by Hezbollah; this proves that Iran is providing this organization with military needs. Moreover, Hezbollah considers Iran the biggest Islamic country in the world, because both Hezbollah and Iran share the same doctrines. For these reasons, Lebanon, which is one of the countries that will be under threat if Iran takes reckless action in the region, rejected the resolution. Lebanon should have voted for the resolution, in order to have an upright, clear attitude about the Iranian cause for the interest of the whole world, and not for the interest of a terrorist movement that is taking control of Lebanon.
It is a shame for Lebanon to abstain from voting to impose sanctions on Iran by the Security Council.
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