Lebanon: Hezbollah seeks to deflect anger through fuel patronage

Analysts say the Iran-backed party’s expanding patronage aims to boost its popularity amid Lebanon’s energy crisis.

Beirut, Lebanon – When the first convoy of Hezbollah-brokered Iranian diesel fuel arrived in Lebanon earlier this month, it was met with a mixed reaction.

While some feared that the Iran-backed party would use it to further assert its dominance, others welcomed the fuel as a temporary relief in the middle of a crippling energy crisis. And for Hezbollah’s supporters, it was hailed as a victory.

On September 16, convoys of trucks crossed the Syrian border into the cash-strapped country and across its eastern province towards Baalbek. Along the way, municipalities affiliated with Hezbollah displayed banners with photos of the Iran-backed group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, alongside his trusted allies Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.