Geagea to Nasrallah: How Can We Pay Iran in Lebanese Lira?

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday criticized the caretaker government, accusing it of standing idly by in the face of the growing economic and financial crises, as he described Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s call for buying fuel from Iran as unrealistic.

“Is the caretaker government taking care of matters? I see that it is draining the Lebanese people,” Geagea said at a press conference.

Describing the ongoing confusion over the subsidization of essential goods and the shortage of commodities in the market as a “major crime against the Lebanese people,” the LF leader said the caretaker government is not asked to “do miracles” but rather to “shoulder its responsibilities within its jurisdiction.”

Turning to Nasrallah’s latest remarks about Iranian fuel and the government’s inaction, Geagea told the Hizbullah leader that his party and its allies are in charge of the government.

“Ask President Michel Aoun to form the (new) government, and should he refuse, take a clear political stance and that would be enough, instead of standing idly by and decrying the country’s situation,” Geagea added.

“Sayyed Hassan, you are in control of the state. You can take a decision to buy gasoline from Iran… But how can we pay to Iran in LBP when we ourselves don’t know what to do with the Lebanese pounds?” the LF leader went on to say.

Geagea also reiterated that “the main gateway to salvation is holding early parliamentary elections.”