Eichhorst says EU to reconsider its decision on Hezbollah every 6 months

       
EU Ambassador to Lebanon Angelina Eichhorst said Tuesday that the European Union's decision to blacklist Hezbollah will be announced on Thursday, noting that it does not include any specific names.           

Following her meeting with caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, Eichhorst said that there is a difference between Hezbollah's military and political wing, stressing that the UNIFIL forces will continue to operate in Lebanon.        

In this context, Eichhorst noted that the decision will be reconsidered every 6 months, reiterating the EU's support to dialogue among all the Lebanese parties.                 

For his part, Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi condemned the EU's decision to put Hezbollah on its list of terrorist organizations, pointing out that it does not affect the Resistance.          

"The US-Zionist project has put pressure on the European countries in order to take such a stance," Roknabadi added.           

Hezbollah was set up with the help of Iranian funds and military advisers some three decades ago and, along with Syria, is still Tehran's most important ally in the region.                  

Pressed by Britain and the Netherlands, the European Union blacklisted Hezbollah's military wing on Monday over accusations it was involved in a bus bombing in Bulgaria that killed five Israelis and their driver a year ago, and its deployment of thousands of fighters to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turn the tide of Syria's civil war.              

Many EU capitals had previously resisted lobbying from Washington and Israel to blacklist the group, warning such a move could fuel instability in the Middle East, especially in Lebanon where Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese government and has dominated politics in Beirut in recent years.          

International positions:                     

Iran condemned on Tuesday the European Union's decision to put the armed wing of Lebanese group Hezbollah on its terrorism blacklist and said the move was "contrary to all political and legal norms, surprising and unacceptable".          

"To label a resistance group which has campaigned against invasion and occupation and has a legal presence with the people's support in the government of Lebanon shows it is based on loose logical foundations," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in a statement on the ministry website.              

"This action was accomplished with the direction of some influential members of the European Union and is contrary to all political and legal norms, surprising and unacceptable," he said.Israel, which welcomed the EU decision, would be the main beneficiary, the Iranian foreign minister said.              


LBCI/REUTERS