BEIRUT, June 5 (Reuters) - Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Iran of using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with the United States on Friday, in some of his toughest criticism yet of Tehran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah as it wages war with Israel.
In a CNN interview, Aoun said "the people of Lebanon are paying the price ... for the sake" of Iran's interests, and were "fed up" with war between Israel and Hezbollah - comments reflecting deep divisions along Lebanon's confessional and political faultlines.
"They are using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiation with the United States,” Aoun said of Iran, according to excerpts of the interview published on the CNN website. “It’s unacceptable."
Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah, founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982, ignited the latest hostilities more than three months ago when it opened fire in solidarity with Tehran as Iran came under U.S.-Israeli attack.
Aoun, who led the Lebanese military before becoming head of state, is a Maronite Christian, as required by Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing arrangements.
