Paris - Beirut: Europe and the Arabs
The Iranian Resistance said that in support of the widespread student protests, the youth of the uprising carried out: Monday "20 heroic operations, where they set fire to the centers of repression and looting affiliated with the regime in Tehran and 11 other cities, including: Bandar Abbas, Mashhad, Karaj, Rasht, Qazvin, Yazd, Kerman, Zahedan, Gorgan, Iranshahr, and Gachsaran. This was after the killing of the student Amir Mohammad Khaleghi, 19 years old, at the University of Tehran, near the student housing complex. The students of the University of Tehran went out in continuous protests during Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday (February 17, 16, 15, 14).
Despite the state of maximum alert of the regime forces, the youth of the uprising were able to carry out their bold operations in support of these protests. According to a statement issued by the Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran yesterday, a copy of which we received. In another separate statement, it said that the ban on Mahan Air flights to Beirut airport sparked rapid reactions The mullahs’ regime officials were disturbed. The regime resorted to intensive diplomatic moves and exchanged messages with its parties in Lebanon, and also pushed its agents in Lebanon to take to the streets to exert pressure.

The regime’s agents tried through gatherings and demonstrations to close the road to Beirut airport to force officials and airport management to reconsider and retract the decision, but the Lebanese army intervened and removed the militias and reopened the road.

The regime’s official news agency quoted Hezbollah as saying in a statement on Sunday morning: “Hezbollah condemned the firing of tear gas canisters by Lebanese soldiers at protesters… Hezbollah stressed in its statement: We demand that the Lebanese government retract its decision to prevent Iranian aircraft from landing at Beirut airport.” (IRNA, February 16)
At the same time, Agence France-Presse reported that the Lebanese government had prevented Iranian flights from entering Beirut airport twice during the past week, following an American warning that Israel might shoot down Iranian regime aircraft.
According to the same source, Israel informed the Lebanese government via American officials last Thursday that it would target the airport if an Iranian plane landed there, and Washington assured Beirut that Tel Aviv was serious about its threat. As a result, another Iranian plane was not allowed to enter Lebanon on Friday.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stated: “The security of Beirut airport comes before any other consideration.”

Arab media reported that the reason for Lebanese officials’ sensitivity towards Iranian flights is due to the Iranian regime’s attempt to transfer money and gold to the collapsed Hezbollah militia.

The Farhikhtegan newspaper referred to the inspection of the bags of the Iranian diplomatic delegation last month, adding: “These inspections were tightened under the supervision of American officers, after rumors spread about the contents of Mahan Air flights, as Al-Hadath channel quoted Western sources as saying that Iran intends to send millions of dollars to Hezbollah via its flights from Tehran to Beirut.”

The newspaper continued, saying:

“The Lebanese government’s decision came as a result of a combination of external pressures, internal developments following the assassination of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and an attempt to alter the balance of power in the region.”

But regional observers, as well as regime-affiliated media and analysts, see what is happening at Beirut airport as more than a matter of “balance of power adjustment” or the issue of transferring funds, which has been controversial in recent months, as it clearly embodies a major strategic defeat for the Iranian regime in Lebanon.
Some pro-regime media outlets have openly declared that “we have lost Lebanon.” Others have gone further, warning of the fate of the regime’s proxies in Iraq after the fall of the Syrian dictator, and expressing their fears about the bleak future that awaits the regime itself.
The regime-affiliated Hamihan newspaper published an article in December titled “The Implications of Assad’s Fall for Iran.” It stated:
“The fall of Bashar al-Assad is not only a major event for Syria, but will have repercussions throughout the Middle East. No country will feel its effects more than Iran. Tehran’s sudden withdrawal from Syria will represent a major strategic and military blow.”
On January 13, Setareh Sobh newspaper published a report titled “An Opportunity in Days of Danger,” in which it spoke about a five-stage plan for the Middle East, and explained that it includes: “Plan A: Gaza - Plan B: Lebanon - Plan C: Syria - Plan D: Iraq - Plan E: Iran.” The newspaper warned, saying: “Of these five plans, the first three have already been implemented by destroying Gaza, dismantling Hezbollah’s infrastructure in Lebanon, and the fall of Assad in Syria. Now it is time to implement the remaining two plans.” Commenting on these developments, the Iranian Resistance stressed that the regime’s failure to impose its will on Lebanon is evidence of the decline of its influence in the region, saying: “The Iranian regime, which has invested for decades in its affiliated militias to impose its hegemony over Lebanon, today finds itself unable to confront the regional and international transformations that are tightening the noose around it. This failure reflects the fact that the Iranian and Lebanese peoples reject its destructive interventions, and that the fall of the mullahs’ regime is only a matter of time.” According to the statement of the Iranian Resistance, Hossein Daei al-Islam, a member of the National Council of the Iranian Resistance, said that the recent meeting of the Council represents a historic moment in the Iranian people’s struggle against religious dictatorship. Daei al-Islam added: “The meeting came at a time when the Iranian regime is facing unprecedented crises internally and internationally. “Recent months have revealed a state of confusion within the regime, both in light of the growing popular protests and due to the loss of its regional influence, indicating that its fall is only a matter of time.” The meeting in Paris also witnessed widespread praise for the mass demonstrations organized by Iranians in Paris on February 8, which demonstrated that the democratic opposition to the regime now enjoys broad popular support inside and outside Iran.