In a statement to the Congress of the United States, President Joe Biden announced that the national emergency with respect to Lebanon would be extended.
Declared on August 1st, 2007, the national emergency will continue in effect beyond August 1st, 2021, Biden said according to a White House media release.
Explaining the reason behind continuing the national emergency, Biden specifically cited Iran’s arms transfers to Hezbollah “which include increasingly sophisticated weapons systems.”
This, along with certain ongoing activities, “undermine Lebanese sovereignty, contribute to political and economic instability in the region, and continue to constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” Biden said.
A political analysis published recently in the local newspaper Al-Joumhouria highlighted Biden’s refusal to allow an Iranian “takeover” of Lebanon in a fight for power over the fertile crescent area of the Middle East.
