Hezbollah has once again informed Speaker Nabih Berri that it will not intervene this time in support of Iran if war breaks out, which Berri has conveyed to President Joseph Aoun, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported.
Furthermore, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh was "candid" with a group of MPs from the Shiite Duo during his recent visit to Beirut.
"He told them that his country would not ask Hezbollah to intervene if Iran came under an attack from the United States in execution of Trump's threats, because Iran is capable of confronting it on its own and "has made significant strides in preparing to prevent him from achieving his goals," the report said.
Lebanese parliamentary sources also told Asharq al-Awsat that Khatibzadeh "was clear in his stance regarding not asking Hezbollah for assistance, given the shift in the balance of power between the group and Israel, as its intervention would not alter the course of the confrontation."
They noted that Iran, according to Khatibzadeh’s words to the MPs, appreciates the delicate situation in Lebanon and has no intention of asking Hezbollah to plunge itself into an unbalanced confrontation.
The sources added that the group cannot bear the burden of the reaction from its popular base, which prompts it to take a cautious approach by positioning itself behind Berri.
"It would be unable to absorb a new wave of displacement resulting from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz's threat to expand the security zone in the South -- reaching as far as targeting the Dahiyeh -- and displacing nearly one million Shiites, as Hezbollah works to absorb and house displaced individuals by offering them financial aid" to alleviate the impact of the recent war, the sources added.
They also stressed that "the general Shiite public sentiment will not remain silent if the group decides to intervene for a second time in support of Iran -- as happened last March -- contrary to its pledge to Berri not to intervene."