The U.S. State Department released the following terse statement when the news of Hezbollah’s emergence came out: “We’ll judge [the new government in Lebanon] by its actions. What’s important in our mind is that the new Lebanese government abides by the Lebanese Constitution, that it renounces violence, including efforts to exact retribution against former government officials, and lives up to all its international obligations.”
International Business Times spoke with Dilshod Achilov, a professor of political science at East Tennessee State University, in Johnson City, Tenn., about the rise of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the possible repercussions,
Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran, has gained a majority of seats in Lebanon’s new cabinet. The move has led to much concern both in the West and Israel about what this development could mean.
