Both the United States and Iran are offering solutions for Lebanon's energy crisis. But neither illicit Iranian fuel shipments nor Washington’s plan to revitalize the Arab Gas Pipeline will provide immediate relief, portending more economic and social unrest. Lebanon’s increasingly dire fuel crisis is causing the United States and Iran to compete against one another to provide relief. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese political party and militant group Hezbollah, announced on Aug. 19 that Iran would send fuel ships to Lebanon. The same day, Lebanese President Michael Aoun announced that the United States was working to provide Egyptian gas to Beirut via Jordan and Syria (presumably through the Arab Gas Pipeline which runs from the Egyptian city of Arish to the Syrian city of Homs. Washington is also threatening Lebanon with sanctions should it openly take Iranian aid. ...
