Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati considered, on Friday, that Hezbollah’s entry of Iranian oil into Lebanon on Thursday is a violation of the country’s sovereignty.

Mikati said during an interview with CNN, regarding the fear of sanctions on Lebanon after “Hezbollah” introduced Iranian oil, “I am sad about the violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty, but I have no fear of sanctions, because the operation took place in isolation from the Lebanese government.”

Dozens of tankers loaded with Iranian fuel brought in by Hezbollah from its main supporter, Tehran, entered Lebanon Thursday morning, coming from neighboring Syria, to the effect of popular receptions.

As part of its efforts to alleviate a severe fuel crisis that Lebanon is witnessing, with its ability to import declining in the wake of an accelerating economic collapse, Hezbollah announced last month that a first ship loaded with fuel would sail from Iran. The Secretary-General of the party, Hassan Nasrallah, said on Monday that it had unloaded its cargo at the Baniyas port in western Syria.

Regarding Hezbollah’s participation in the government, Mikati indicated that “the government is inclusive of most of the Lebanese spectrum,” adding, “We cannot carry out any reforms and negotiate with the International Monetary Fund without the approval and support of everyone… Hezbollah represents a segment of the Lebanese in Parliament.”

The Prime Minister stressed that “the government’s primary task is to stop the collapse and put the country on the path to recovery in preparation for the transition to addressing the economic, financial and life files.”

Mikati expressed his feeling of “relative satisfaction” because the government “contacted within seven days with the International Monetary Fund, which expressed its willingness to support Lebanon, and presented the electricity problem and proposals for appropriate solutions.”

Mikati spoke about his meeting Thursday with the head of the World Health Organization, who expressed the organization’s readiness to support the health sector in Lebanon, and its willingness to urge donor countries to provide aid.

Lebanon faces many urgent challenges, including the financial and economic crisis, the repercussions of the explosion of the Port of Beirut and the Corona pandemic, according to Mikati, who saw that “the current situation in Lebanon is similar to a patient in a very bad condition who is waiting to be admitted to the hospital emergency, after which he is transferred to the operating room for surgery if necessary, and then to Intensive care and then undergoes a period of convalescence before the final recovery … I regret to say that our country is still waiting for the hospital emergency.”

The government cannot “achieve the stage of recovery and recovery in eight months, which is the constitutional age of the government, considering that the government submits its resignation after the parliamentary elections that the government insists on holding on time,” according to the prime minister.

The Lebanese government is facing issues such as improving the energy and electricity situation, tackling the hydrocarbon crisis, securing medicine, and addressing the situation of the two sectors, as well as the hospital and educational sectors.

The new Lebanese government has vowed to tackle the worst economic crisis in the country’s history.

The new government came 13 months after the resignation of the government of Hassan Diab, following the horrific explosion of the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, which killed more than two hundred people, injured more than 6,500, and destroyed neighborhoods in the capital, exacerbating the suffering of the Lebanese, of whom 78% now live. Below the poverty line.

Najib Mikati thanked the Iraqi government for supporting Lebanon with oil derivatives, and called on all Lebanese factions to adopt a policy of disassociation, and said that “Lebanon has not abandoned its Arab brothers and is calling on them not to abandon it.”

He stressed the existence of a French role in helping to form the government “without interfering in the details,” adding that France respects Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Regarding the investigation into the Beirut port explosion, he said, “We will not allow any obstacle to stand in the way of the investigation to find out the circumstances of the crime and hold those responsible to account, taking into account the constitutional and legal principles.”