Hezbollah leader: 'Third Iran oil ship to sail to Lebanon'

Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah revealed on Friday an agreement with Iran to start loading a third ship of oil derivatives to sail to Lebanon.

This came in a televised speech delivered by Nasrallah on the fourth anniversary of the Second Liberation, which was broadcast by some Lebanese channels, including pro-Hezbollah Al-Manar TV channel.

Nasrallah stated:

We agreed with the Iranians to start loading a third ship of oil derivatives to head towards Lebanon. We need more than three ships to face the next stage.

On 19 August, Nasrallah confirmed that an Iranian fuel ship was on its way to his country, and then on 22 August, he announced that a second oil vessel would sail to Lebanon within days, and other ships would follow.

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So far, the Lebanese side did not announce the arrival of any ship coming from Iran, and the government has issued no official comment about the Iranian oil shipments, the location to unload the cargo or who would benefit from it.

Lebanon has been suffering a severe fuel shortage for more than two months due to the lack of sufficient foreign exchange to import it.

In his speech, Nasrallah stressed the importance of: “Forming a government as soon as possible in order to start reaching solutions to the ongoing crises.”

On 26 July, President Michel Aoun commissioned Najib Mikati to form a new government to succeed the caretaker government, which resigned six days after the explosion of the Beirut Port on 4 August, 2020. Consultations are still ongoing between the concerned parties to agree on a government formation.

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