Trump's Middle East moves fuel tensions: Lebanese minister Gebran Bassil

Gebran Bassil, whose Free Patriotic Movement is aligned with the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah in parliament, said moving the U.S. embassy in Israel would undermine peace in the Middle East.

Published: 14th May 2018 06:21 PM  |   Last Updated: 14th May 2018 06:21 PM   |  A+A-

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil

By UNI

BRUSSELS: Lebanon's foreign minister on Monday called the U.S. decisions to move its embassy to Jerusalem and to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal policy failures that will lead to more tensions and extremism in the region.

Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, whose Free Patriotic Movement is aligned with the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah in parliament, said moving the U.S. embassy in Israel would undermine peace in the Middle East.

"This is a move that will cause more tensions and lead to more extremism in the region," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Brussels.

"We cannot accept to have any kind of peace while Jerusalem is being kidnapped."

Alongside U. S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, he said U. S. moves added to a long list of U. S. policy failures in the region.

"This is another failure," Bassil told Reuters.

"Israel has declared a long time ago that it is seeking anything but peace, but now the United States is backing Israel in its policy of launching wars against the peoples of the region." 

Stay up to date on all the latest World news with The New Indian Express App. Download now

Comments

Disclaimer : We respect your thoughts and views! But we need to be judicious while moderating your comments. All the comments will be moderated by the newindianexpress.com editorial. Abstain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks. Try to avoid outside hyperlinks inside the comment. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines.

The views expressed in comments published on newindianexpress.com are those of the comment writers alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of newindianexpress.com or its staff, nor do they represent the views or opinions of The New Indian Express Group, or any entity of, or affiliated with, The New Indian Express Group. newindianexpress.com reserves the right to take any or all comments down at any time.