For more than four decades, Lebanon has endured the crushing burden of foreign manipulation, sectarian militancy, and endless conflict. At the heart of that tragedy lies the Iranian regime’s vast investment in Hezbollah, a proxy army armed, financed, and directed from Tehran. What once masqueraded as “resistance” evolved into a parallel state, stronger than the Lebanese Army, richer than the ministries of government, and more loyal to Iran’s Supreme Leader than to the people of Lebanon.

Today, a rare opportunity has emerged to break that stranglehold. The recent direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli representatives in Washington, brokered by the United States, signal a profound strategic shift across the Middle East. Tehran clearly understands the danger. That explains the barrage of threats, intimidation, and propaganda unleashed by Iranian officials and Hezbollah allies in recent days.

Ahead of the U.S.-Iran negotiations in Islamabad, Iranian negotiators attempted to impose a Lebanon ceasefire as a condition for dialogue with Washington. Their demand failed. The talks proceeded anyway, exposing the limits of Tehran’s leverage. Yet the regime immediately intensified pressure on Beirut, desperate to preserve its fading influence over Lebanese affairs.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, repeatedly insisted that any ceasefire depended upon Hezbollah and the so-called “Axis of Resistance.” At the same time, Hezbollah-aligned media outlets in Beirut openly called for the overthrow of Lebanon’s government after Beirut moved against Hezbollah’s military apparatus and expelled Iran’s ambassador. The ambassador himself refused to leave. Such contempt for Lebanese sovereignty reveals everything about Tehran’s attitude toward Lebanon. Iran treats the country as a client territory rather than an independent state.

For years, Lebanese governments lacked either the........

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