MP Salim Sayegh warned that Lebanon’s future is now tightly bound to Iran’s regional agenda, arguing that Hezbollah’s deep entanglement with Tehran has put the country in existential jeopardy.

In an interview with LBCI, Sayegh said Lebanon’s predicament is directly tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, particularly the Quds Force, which he described as the body overseeing Tehran’s network of armed proxies across the region.

“The Quds Force manages Iran’s regional operations, and Hezbollah is part of that structure,” he said. “After the assassinations of senior party figures, the Guards’ influence within Hezbollah expanded into virtually every facet of the organization.”

Sayegh argued that any genuine effort to “Lebanonize” Hezbollah must begin by ending what he called foreign control.

“If we’re serious about Lebanonizing the group, that starts with removing the Guards,” he said. “We cannot accept foreign mercenaries effectively running a Lebanese political party.”

He called for cutting diplomatic ties with Tehran, expelling the Iranian ambassador from Beirut, and resetting relations on entirely new terms.

“We are not interfering in Iran’s internal affairs. We are calling for neutrality,” he said. “But we cannot continue down this path while Lebanon’s sovereignty is being violated,” he added, likening Iran’s approach to that of a mafia.

Sayegh renewed his call to internationalize the Lebanese file in order to end what he described as Iranian tutelage over the country. While noting that he voted for President Joseph Aoun and supported the current government, he argued that meaningful reform cannot take hold without international guarantees to protect Lebanon’s democratic process.

“There’s no comparison between imposed Iranian intervention and requested American involvement,” he said.

Addressing Hezbollah’s current stance, Sayegh said the group had exercised what it calls “strategic patience” for more than a year, but escalated after Iran’s supreme leader was targeted. He noted that the Lebanese government recently characterized Hezbollah as operating outside the law, arguing that the group’s recent actions cannot be justified or shielded by the State.

“We cannot afford to be neutral in a confrontation that will determine Lebanon’s fate,” he said, warning that Israel has already expanded its military operations into Lebanese territory and could push further. “If Israel decides to widen the fight, which country is going to stop it?” he asked.

According to Sayegh, continued alignment with Iran would bring Lebanon to the brink.

“If we persist in blindly backing Iran and allow what’s happening there to spill over into Lebanon, our fate will hang by a thread,” he said. “National partnership would unravel. I want Lebanon to be a place where we live in dignity, not a descent into hell.”

He insisted that Hezbollah, not the Lebanese State, would ultimately pay the price for its decisions.

“The party won’t drag Lebanon down, it will drag itself down,” he said. “Who, exactly, is standing with it?”

Sayegh accused Hezbollah of acting unilaterally and attempting to expose the government’s weakness, recalling previous episodes in which, he said, the group sought to strong-arm State institutions. He warned that President Joseph Aoun has reached a critical juncture.

“If the State does not resolve this, Lebanon is finished,” he said. “Half-measures will push us into dangerous territory; it would mean the end of the Lebanese entity as we know it. And threats of civil war no longer scare us.”