BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Iranian fuel shipments imported by the Hezbollah movement constitute a breach of Lebanon's sovereignty, according to comments published by his office.
"The violation of Lebanon's sovereignty makes me sad," Mikati told CNN in an interview, his office said in a posting on Twitter.
He added: "But I'm not concerned that sanctions can be imposed" on Lebanon "because the operation was carried out without the involvement of the Lebanese government."
The Tehran-aligned group on Thursday began bringing tanker trucks carrying fuel from Iran, a move it says should ease a crippling energy crisis in Lebanon. A tanker ship carried the fuel to Syria and from there it crossed into Lebanon. Both Syria and Iran are under US sanctions.
Late on Friday, the Lebanese broadcaster LBCI said that a new group of tankers carrying Iranian fuel entered Lebanon through the Hermel area.
Hermel is at the northern end of the Bekaa Valley, an area from where Hezbollah draws its support.
ECONOMIC IMPACT ON HEALTHCARE
The World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has expressed a "deep concern" about impact of Lebanon's worsening economic crisis on the country's health sector.
Speaking at a news conference in Beirut, Tedros warned of "a braindra in" in Lebanon, as the crisis drives health workers to flee to other places.
"Health workers are leaving the country. Nurses and doctors are leaving the country. This is very serious because the effects will continue for many more years," said the WHO chief during an official visit to Beirut.
This "brain drain" is "very, very worrying" and must be stopped quickly, he added.
Experiencing its worst economic crisis since the end of its 15-year civil war in 1990, Lebanon is suffering from a shortage of foreign currency reserves needed to import essential goods such as fuel, medicines and medical supplies.
The situation is exacerbated by the pandemic, as well as the devastating explosion that hit the Beirut port in August last year.
The whole situation in Lebanon is "devastating," said Tedros, who met with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and President Michel Aoun.
"Even when I met the president, the power went out in the middle of the meeting," Tedros added.
"The impact of the political crisis, the financial meltdown two years ago, followed by - as if that's not enough - a blast, then you have Covid... This is very, very heavy. Health conditions can be impacted by all of them," he added.
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