The recent positions of the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, in which he launched an attack on the authority and the President of the Republic, Joseph Aoun, and the course of the Lebanese-Israeli negotiations, were rejected and criticized in Lebanon, amid political forces affirming that the decision on war, peace, and negotiation must be in the hands of the state.
In a speech he delivered during the second anniversary of the assassination of the two Secretary-Generals of Hezbollah, Qassem had attacked; The former Hassan Nasrallah and the former Hashem Safi al-Din discussed the course of the Lebanese-Israeli negotiations, and said that “Lebanon will disappear without resistance,” holding the authority responsible for the continued security situation.
Qassem called for “an end to concessions,” and accused President Joseph Aoun of “violating the constitution, the Taif Agreement, the oath speech, and the ministerial statement.”
Ministerial sources close to the Lebanese presidency considered that the positions launched by Qassem further complicate the situation, and give Israel “an additional excuse for not responding.” “Not with American pressure, nor with any other party.” Usually, “what he said is not in the interest of the state, and does not serve the course of the negotiations.”
The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Qasim’s words contained a “terrible contradiction,” especially “regarding (the party’s) position on the state and negotiations. He says that (the party) is ready for dialogue, and at the same time sets conditions on the state,” she added: “It is illogical for (the party) to set conditions on the state, after all the devastating results of the war it launched.”
The sources considered that “this position reflects, in part, a state of denial of reality and arrogance,” noting that part of the speech may have been directed at the Shiite environment with the aim of pleasing it and absorbing the state of discomfort present in it.
Al-Jamil: Qasim’s words are a “tragedy”
The head of the Lebanese Phalange Party, MP Sami Gemayel, responded, confirming his support for the President of the Republic and the government, and said after his meeting with Aoun: “Official Lebanon has returned to shouldering its responsibilities before the Lebanese, and for the first time since 1990 we have a President of the Republic and a Prime Minister with a Lebanese decision. We support them, and have full confidence in President Aoun, who puts the country’s interest above all else.”
Regarding Qasim’s speech, Gemayel said: “Naim Qasim’s words are tragic.” They ask: Where is the state? Today, the state is trying to save the country after 35 years of rule by Hezbollah and its allies.
Geagea: The state is responsible for confronting Israel
The head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, responded to Qasim’s positions, saying: “Whoever violated the constitution and (Taif) for decades is you,” in reference to “Hezbollah.”
As for Qasim’s call on what he called the “sovereigns” to resist Israel, Geagea said: “We are the first to resist from the first moment until the present moment, but in the appropriate and proper way,” considering that the “party’s” weapons led to adverse results and “brought Israel to occupy the south.”
He added: “Actual resistance consists of gathering Lebanon’s friends around it, and establishing an actual state that works to expel Israel from its land,” stressing that the state is the party responsible for confronting Israel.
In response to linking the discussion of the “party’s” weapons to the liberation of the land and the return of people and prisoners, he said: “The opposite is true,” considering that the establishment of an effective state and the restoration of its decision constitute the gateway to addressing the issue. He also held the "party" and its allies responsible for part of the economic deterioration, saying that the election of Aoun and the formation of Nawaf Salam's government allowed Lebanon to restore its official role.
Geagea concluded: “Lebanon without resistance will disappear. It is true if it is resistance for the sake of Lebanon, and not resistance for the sake of Iran and at the expense of the meaning of Lebanon.”
Al-Sadiq: The state saves the country from your destruction
For his part, MP Waddah Al-Sadiq wrote on the “X” platform: “Today they are demanding to stop the negotiations and cancel the (framework agreement) because it (failed), but without offering a solution or alternative. Is the alternative to returning Lebanon to a devastating war?
Al-Sadiq said, “The Lebanese state is the one that bore the consequences of a war it did not start,” noting that the presidents of the republic and the government took the decision to go to negotiations to stop the war and protect what remained of Lebanon.
He added: “You destroyed the south, displaced its people, and entered the suburbs, Beirut, and Lebanon into a war in the service of Iran. Today, do not ask the state to bear the consequences of your choices, and then attack it because it is trying to save the country from your destruction.”
Rifi: Lebanon's decision is in Beirut, not Tehran
Representative Ashraf Rifi said that Qassem “came out to us yesterday as if he were a guardian of the Lebanese and Lebanon,” stressing that “Lebanon is a pluralistic homeland, and that it has equal partners in citizenship, and there are no subjects of a party or axis.”
He added: “We are partners in the Lebanese national project, and we will remain partners in building the state and protecting its sovereignty, but we are not; We will not be partners in the Iranian project.”
He concluded: “Lebanon first and last, and Lebanon’s decision is in Beirut, not in Tehran. The legitimate weapon is the weapon of the state, and the army and security forces are the only reference for protecting the homeland.”
Khamenei praises Nasrallah and Qassem
In parallel, the message of the Iranian leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, came to confirm Iran’s continued adherence to its role in the Hezbollah file and the options related to it in Lebanon, at a time when the Lebanese authorities are seeking to establish the exclusivity of national decision-making in the state.
On the second anniversary of his assassination, Khamenei described Hassan Nasrallah as “the heroic prince of the Arabs, and the great symbol of the resistance front,” praising his role in “raising the name of Lebanon.” That small country, which for years turned into a backyard for some powers, a place of greatness.
He said that Nasrallah was “a man whose greatness has never risen in that ancient land,” adding: “Today, his glorious banner is preserved in the hands of His Eminence Sheikh Naim Qassem,” who said that he “continues to follow his path with courage.”
The message also carried criticism of those who oppose the resistance line in Lebanon, as Khamenei said that “these days of Lebanon... are prominent and glorious days for it and for all the resistance fighters,” compared to “days that bring humiliation” to those who pin their hopes on “false promises” in confronting Israel.
The General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Syrian Republic approved a package of measures to control and rationalize public spending, with the aim of enhancing financial discipline and maintaining the general budget, based on a proposal from the Ministry of Finance, in response to the current regional changes and pressures on energy costs, transportation, and securing basic needs in Syria.
Syrian Finance Minister Muhammad Yusser Barneyah said on Monday that these measures do not affect salaries, wages, and necessary expenses, especially in the sectors of health, education, water, energy, security, public safety, and operational maintenance.
While Syrians fear a harsh winter that brings back memories of the difficult years of war and the scarcity of all necessities for living, the Syrian government is wary of the continuation of regional escalation and the rising costs of energy and fuel production.
Sources close to the government revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that there is concern about the continued escalation in the region, especially the wars in Iran and Yemen, and the impact of this escalation on the Arab Gulf states (Syria’s new financial leverage). She said that this casts a dark and direct shadow on the political and economic landscape in the country, and threatens recovery efforts, with the possibility of shrinking support and shrinking investment.
Finance Minister Muhammad Yusser Barneyah explained in a post on his Facebook account on Monday that the measures include reducing unnecessary expenditures, rearranging spending priorities, and investment projects, while postponing projects that can be postponed according to their degree of necessity, readiness, and financial, economic, and social impact.
The financial measures aim to raise the efficiency of public spending by directing available resources towards priorities and projects with direct impact, in a way that enhances the budget’s ability to face current pressures and maintain financial sustainability, according to what the minister said, who stressed that controlling and rationalizing public spending comes within the framework of “raising the efficiency of using available resources.”
The Ministry looks forward to cooperating with all ministries, agencies, and public bodies in implementing the provisions of the circular, and Minister Bernieh pledged to follow up on the implementation of the circular and measure the achieved savings “in a way that ensures the achievement of its goals without affecting the continuity of basic services.”
The launch of the public spending rationalization plan coincided with the preparation of the 2027 budget, amid challenges related to controlling the fiscal deficit for the current year.
The volume of public spending during the first half of this year amounted to about $3.7 billion, compared to total public revenues that amounted to about $2.7 billion, according to the financial performance report of the state’s general budget issued last August, which estimated the financial deficit at about one billion dollars.
Compared to the first half of 2025, public revenues increased by about 111 percent, while public spending increased by about 331 percent. The government says that the increase in spending is mainly related to the increase in salaries and wages, and the expansion of spending on government priorities, in addition to the rise in the cost of a number of goods, services, and inputs, as a result of regional developments and rising import prices.
The government is working to bridge the budget deficit through financial tools such as short-term bonds, and working to attract foreign investment, in light of the worsening living crises and the widening gap between salaries, wages, and basic costs of living.
On September 13, the government raised fuel prices by rates ranging between 25 and 40 percent, including gasoline, diesel, and domestic gas.
More than 90 percent of Syrians who live below the poverty line suffer, and 65 percent of them live in extreme poverty, according to United Nations figures.
It is estimated that a Syrian family of 5 members needs more than 500 US dollars per month (approximately 6 million liras in current estimates) to secure basic needs at a minimum. In contrast, public and private sector salaries often do not exceed $100 to $150.
However, the Syrian government is facing a “complex” phase, as it is engaging in the process of transition towards a “market economy,” which means dismantling the legacy of the command economy and reducing the general budget deficit, the negative repercussions of which affect vulnerable social groups first.
The Iraqi authorities continue their final preparations to reach what they described as “Sovereignty Day,” which will witness the departure of the last soldier of the international coalition forces led by the United States of America from the country, which falls next Wednesday.
The process of withdrawal of coalition forces is consistent with the “framework agreement” reached by Baghdad and Washington at the end of September 2024. The agreement gave a period of two years to organize the withdrawal process and complete it in the same month of 2026.
Since last January, American forces have left the Ain al-Asad Air Base in Anbar Governorate, western Iraq. It is considered one of the largest and most important camps that included American and coalition forces. It was subjected to an Iranian missile attack in 2020, after the United States killed the commander of the Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, and the deputy head of the Mobilization Forces, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, near Baghdad International Airport.
It withdrew completely from the Victory (Al-Nasr) military base near Baghdad International Airport, which was also subjected to dozens of attacks by armed factions.
The official spokesman, head of the Security Media Cell in Iraq, Lieutenant General Saad Maan, said in statements to the official Al-Sabah newspaper, Monday, that Iraq’s handover of the main headquarters of the American forces at Baghdad International Airport, and the agreement with Turkey to withdraw Turkish military forces from the Bashiqa base in Nineveh Governorate, “confirm the possibility of continuing security cooperation with international partners on the basis of mutual respect and in a manner that preserves the independence of the Iraqi decision.”
The upper floor
Maan said, “The government has now had the highest say and the sole decision in determining the nature of the military and security presence on the country’s territory.”
He added, "Strengthening Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity, along with its independent management of its security file, constitute the basic pillar of the country's stability and advancing its regional and international relations toward broader horizons of fruitful cooperation."
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced last week that he agreed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during their meeting in New York, to fully extend the authority of the Iraqi state in Sinjar, and to hand over the Turkish Zlikan camp in the Bashiqa area of Nineveh Governorate to the Iraqi federal forces. The Turkish withdrawal was among the conditions set by the armed factions loyal to Iran to disarm, as were the conditions for the complete withdrawal of American forces and international coalition forces.
After completing the withdrawal of American and coalition forces from the entire Iraqi territory in the center of the country, military sources indicate that the final touches have been put in place for their final withdrawal from the areas of the northern Kurdistan region, as most of the forces left for the “Harir” military base there.
While many Kurdish political leaders express their fear of the withdrawal of American forces, the spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Sabah al-Numan, confirmed that “the process of withdrawal of the international coalition forces in Erbil has already begun and will be completed by the 30th of this month.”
Al-Numan said in statements to Kurdish media, “After this date, not a single foreign soldier will remain in any part of Iraq.”
He pointed out that “the details of the coalition forces’ withdrawal will include holding an official ceremony to close the coalition headquarters, in addition to holding a sovereignty conference.”
Regarding the withdrawal of forces from the Kurdistan region, Al-Numan confirmed, “America and the international coalition are currently going through the withdrawal phase. The coalition withdraws from Erbil in coordination with the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Region concerns
Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, said on Sunday, “The withdrawal of American forces and international coalition forces from Iraq comes at a very sensitive time, and the Kurdistan region has been subjected to more than a thousand missile attacks and drone attacks.”
He added, "Leaving the Kurdistan region exposed without providing any defensive systems to protect it is a matter of concern."
As the Iraqi authorities prepare to celebrate “Sovereignty Day” (Wednesday, September 30), feelings of anxiety and fears are rising in the Kurdistan region regarding the withdrawal process.
In the absence of accurate information about the direction that American forces will take after leaving Iraqi territory, some military sources indicate that they may head to military bases in Jordan and Syria, and to the Incirlik base in Turkey.
