US Anti-Hezbollah Sanctions Aim to Meddle in Lebanese Gov't Formation – Lawmaker

BEIRUT (Sputnik) - New US sanctions imposed on Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement aim to interfere in the formation of the country’s government, as well as in its policy, Lebanese parliament lawmaker and member of Hezbollah Walid Sukkari told Sputnik on Thursday.

"The resistance movement [Hezbollah] is Lebanon’s main force that opposes the US-Zionist project. And the movement is under attack from different directions … [The task of the United States and the European Union] is to create obstacles during the formation of a new government and to meddle in its work," Sukkari stated.

According to the lawmaker, Washington and its allies are imposing sanctions following a failure of anti-Shiite parties to win the majority of parliament seats during the last election, which took place in the country on May 6.

READ MORE: Hezbollah: Last Week's Missile Attack — Response to Israeli Aggression in Syria

Sukkari also said that the United States was trying to adopt a new UN Security Council resolution like the one which in 2004 obliged Syria, Hezbollah’s ally, to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, the presence of which was legitimized by Beirut.

"All such actions are aimed to create disorder in Lebanon through posing obstacles for the government’s formation until the difference between Hezbollah’s political and military wings will not be eliminated," he said, adding that the party is considering a possible response.

In 1995, the United States designated Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. On Wednesday, Washington added Hezbollah’s Shura Council [the group’s major decision-making body] members – Husayn Khalil, Ibrahim Sayyid, and Muhammad Yazbak — in its sanction list.

On May 6, Lebanon held its first general election since 2009. Within the nine-year period, the nation's parliament extended its mandate three times under the pretext of political instability. On May 7, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said that a new government would unite the army, the Lebanese people, and the Hezbollah resistance.