Mikati says US yet to answer his inquiry about Iranian fuel grant

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said that he has “asked the Americans” about the issue of the Iranian fuel grant for Lebanon and that he is yet to receive an “official answer.”

“I do not accept to subject Lebanon to any sanctions, whatever they may be,” Mikati added, in an interview on LBCI television.

Separately, Mikati said that Algerian company Sonatrach is willing to supply Lebanon with fuel but noted that “there are problems related to legal matters and work is ongoing to resolve them.”

As for the issue of the electricity regulatory commission, Mikati said caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad has “surprised” him by “announcing the reception of applications from six candidates, whereas it was needed to announce five candidates for the regulatory commission (a president and four members).”

“I sent a memo in this regard to Fayyad, because that entails a clear violation of the law, and I’m dealing with a political group whose concern is obstruction,” the PM added.

He also warned that “without a regulatory commission for electricity there can be no funding from the World Bank for importing electricity from Jordan and gas from Egypt.”