Elie Maalouf, head of Lebanon’s Change movement, tells M TV that Lebanon made a mistake when it was lenient toward the Islamic Republic

Elie Maalouf, the head of Lebanon’s Change movement, told the M TV network that Lebanon made a mistake after it exercised leniency toward the Islamic Republic and that from the very beginning it should have cut ties with Tehran and banned Hezbollah.

Maalouf said: “From the very beginning, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic should have been expelled, relations with Tehran cut, and Hezbollah banned, and its leaders and members—including, above all, Naim Qassem—should have been prosecuted.”

He also called for the collection of weapons that he described as “illegal,” and said the political structure and organizational apparatus of the militias should be dismantled and their ties to the Islamic Republic brought to an end.

According to the head of Lebanon’s Change movement, decision-making, weapons, and sovereignty should be reserved only for the Lebanese state.