USUP President Ibrahim Mrad urges Hezbollah disarmament ahead of key Lebanese cabinet session

BEIRUT — Ahead of the Lebanese Council of Ministers’ session scheduled for Tuesday, 5 August 2025 — which carries a pivotal agenda to reaffirm state sovereignty and restrict arms possession exclusively to state authorities — Ibrahim Mrad, President of the Universal Syriac Union Party (USUP), issued a firm statement calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah to save Lebanon.

“The government now stands at a critical juncture where delay or abdication of responsibility is no longer acceptable,” Mrad declared. “Transferring Hezbollah’s weapons to the Lebanese Armed Forces is essential to reestablishing the state and reviving its institutions. This moment marks a definitive choice: either build a sovereign, independent nation or continue down a path of collapse and subjugation.”

In his statement, Mrad rejected any retreat or compromise on what he described as an “existential national issue.” He warned against yielding to the “blackmail exerted by the militia and its allied axis” or allowing the Council of Ministers to become a powerless body under Hezbollah’s imposed authority.

He strongly condemned what he called Hezbollah’s “inflammatory calls for public mobilization” during the Council’s session, describing them as attempts to intimidate the government and incite internal discord. “These tactics will not succeed,” he said. “The path toward restoring state authority is definitive and irreversible.”

Mrad also appealed to “the honorable Shia community — particularly those still supporting the militia — urging them to stop sacrificing their sons, and those of the nation, for foreign agendas entirely disconnected from Lebanon’s national interests.”

“Lebanon is not a hostage,” Mrad continued. “Decision-making authority must reside solely with the state, not with illicit arms. The government must prove today that it represents all of Lebanon, not one subjugated to forcibly imposed balances.”

He concluded by calling on “sovereign forces, national blocs, and every free Lebanese citizen to mobilize against any deal that undermines the essence of the state.” He emphasized that “there can be no foundation for peace and prosperity amid illegitimate arms and chaos,” warning that “today’s battle is for the fate of a nation — either we reclaim it, or we lose it forever.”