Region poised for Lebanese elections

A Hezbollah-affiliated website recently cited the remarks of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad on upcoming parliamentary elections in Lebanon. According to the website, Ahmedinejad voiced his opinion that if the Lebanese opposition, in which Hezbollah is a key player, makes significant gains, a “new front” will emerge to the benefit of the ‘resistance.’ He is also quoted as saying, “We are sure of the necessity that Lebanon be independent, united, and free, and we will broaden our relationship with it.”

This comes at a time when allegations of Hezbollah’s involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri (published in the the German Der Spiegel news magazine) may threaten the group’s domestic image, coincidentally two weeks before parliamentary elections. Although both leaders of opposition and majority parties have tried to dissuade their constituencies from being distracted by this developing controversy, and experts have downplayed the credibility of Hezbollah’s alleged involvement in the eyes of Lebanese, the gravity of the domestic and regional implications of these converging issues suggests the next few weeks may bring the country, once again, to the brink.