In a message to the US Congress regarding Lebanon on July 20, President Joe Biden referred to Iran’s “continuing arms transfers to Hizballah”, as undermining Lebanese sovereignty.
Biden’s short message was a routine notification the President must submit every 90 days to renew a National Emergencies Act, which in this case is the Executive Order 13441 of August 1, 2007.
But Biden cited Iran’s military support for Hezbollah as the main reason for extending the Emergency Act.
Biden wrote, “Iran’s continuing arms transfers to Hizballah — which include increasingly sophisticated weapons systems — serve to 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. “
Iran played the main role in creating the Shiite militant organization in early 1980s in Lebanon as a springboard for attacks against Israel. In the past decade, Tehran has supplied Hezbollah with thousands of rockets and missiles that can endanger Israeli population centers. Hezbollah has been involved in numerous large and small military confrontations with Israel.
The Biden administration began negotiations with Iran in April to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, but so far no final agreement has been reached. US demands for Iran to change its interventionist regional policy is one of the major sticking points in the process.
Source » iranintl