Iran denounces US sanctions on its envoy to Lebanon

Iran’s Foreign Ministry released a statement on Friday, one day after the US Treasury Department designated nine individuals in Lebanon, including Iran's Ambassador Mohammad Reza Sheibani, claiming that they were enabling the resistance movement Hezbollah to “undermine Lebanon's sovereignty”.

The ministry denounced the sanctions against Sheibani as “another example of the US ruling administration’s rebellion and disregard for the indisputable principles of international law and the UN Charter, especially the fundamental principle of respecting the national sovereignty of states.”

It also strongly condemned the US sanctions on a number of Hezbollah representatives at the Lebanese parliament, officials from the Amal movement, and several Lebanese military and security officials.

“These despicable actions are aimed at weakening Lebanon's national sovereignty and inciting sedition in the Lebanese society. They are a sign of the continued complicity of the US ruling administration with the aggressor and occupying Zionist regime in continuing military aggression and committing heinous crimes against Lebanon,” it added.

The ministry said that various Lebanese groups will defend their country's sovereignty and territorial integrity by maintaining national unity and solidarity.

The Lebanese, it noted, will also prevent Israel from achieving its sinister goals by ending the Zionist regime's occupation and aggression.

Meanwhile, the ministry expressed the Islamic Republic’s determination to strengthen its friendly and historical relations with Lebanon in various fields in line with the interests of both nations.

Despite a ceasefire announced on April 17 and extended until May 17, the Israeli military continues daily airstrikes in Lebanon and widespread demolition of homes in dozens of villages, echoing its years-long atrocities against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.