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In a December 22, 2024, appearance on Al-Manar TV (Hizbullah-Lebanon), Lebanese Minister of Labor and Hizbullah member Mustafa Bayram stated that Iran is willing to finance the reconstruction of Lebanon following the war with Israel. However, he noted that American sanctions have hindered Iran’s ability to do so. Bayram explained that Iranian senior politician Ali Larijani had informed Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati that Iran has frozen funds in Iraq intended for this purpose, and he urged Mikati to request the U.S. to lift the sanctions to allow access to these funds. Bayram also discussed Hizbullah’s UAV and missile capabilities.
Mustafa Bayram: "Are you really worried about Hizbullah? When Hizbullah launched UAVs, those UAV were fresh out of the oven."
Interviewer: "What do you mean?"
Bayram: "The guys would manufacture them on the spot.
[...]
"The resistance would manufacture those UAVs, and launch them, still piping hot from the oven, to Haifa and Tel Aviv."
Interviewer: "But the new ceasefire agreement includes some conditions."
Bayram: "What are they?"
Interviewer: "The weapons south of the Litani River, the facilities, the [weapon] factories..."
Bayram: "The resistance knows how to place their factories anywhere... The resistance has expanded. It is no longer limited to a specific geographic location. The type of weapons the resistance has is no longer limited by range. In 2006, the resistance had missiles with a range of only 12-20 kilometers. Maybe a small number of missiles reached Haifa or Afula. Today, the ranges of the missiles of the resistance are different, and the type of warfare is also different."
[...]
Interviewer: "Who will pay for the reconstruction, how, and for what political price?"
Bayram: "There will be no political price to pay, for the simple reason that the main financier will be the Islamic Republic of Iran.
[...]
"PM Najib Mikati informed the government that [Ali] Larijani told him that Iran is ready to rebuild Lebanon from north to south. Obviously, we are talking about what [was ruined] by the war. Therefore, [Iran] earmarked a sum of money that exceeds the extent of the destruction. However, Larijani is aware of the problem of the sanctions on Iranian companies. Iran wants to deal [directly] with the Lebanese government. This is the logical way to do it. "Larijani said to Mikati: 'We have frozen funds in Iraq. Ask America to allow these funds to be released.'
[...]
"I think that PM Mikati contacted the ambassadors of large countries, and talked to them about this. He said to them: 'If you do not like this, provide us with an alternative.'"
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