BEIRUT, Lebanon, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- As dramatic changes reshape the Middle East, Lebanon is taking a bolder stance toward Iran to assert state sovereignty and rebalance bilateral ties, adopting unprecedented positions and measures to curb Tehran's interference in its internal affairs and its dominance over its most powerful proxy, Hezbollah.
Iran's extensive military and financial support for Hezbollah, which has grown dramatically since the group was created in the early 1980s, transformed it into the most powerful military actor in Lebanon, exercising wide political influence at the expense of the state.
Hezbollah monopolized the powers of war and peace, unilaterally deciding when to confront Israel and intervening militarily in Syria during its civil war to support the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
When Syria -- then the main power broker in Lebanon -- was forced to withdraw its troops in 2005, Hezbollah began to impose its preferred candidates for Lebanon's presidency and government and dominate the country's military and security services.
That dominance, however, has dramatically shifted. The group emerged severely weakened after the war it launched against Israel in support of Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, which claimed the lives of its powerful and charismatic leader, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, top military commanders and thousands of fighters.
