What Lebanon will get from the Iran deal
Economist Hassan Mokalled told Al-Monitor that the expected boost the nuclear deal will provide Iran's economy could benefit Lebanon in several areas.
Much of Lebanon seems optimistic about the potential benefits of the nuclear deal reached between Iran, the six world powers and the European Union. These hopes are linked to the economic weight of Iran in the region and the relations between Tehran and political forces in the Lebanese arena, most notably the Shiite forces led by Hezbollah.
Economist and editor of Al-Imar Wa Iktissad magazine Hassan Mokalled explained to Al-Monitor the basis of such hopes. He said there are several fields that the Lebanese can count on as a result of their economic, developmental and investment cooperation with the Iranian state. Among these fields is the issue of power generation. This has been a pressing issue in Lebanon since the end of the civil war 25 years ago, as Lebanese authorities have been unable since then to consistently provide electricity to some regions. To cope with the situation, some citizens are using private generators during outages.
In 2010, Lebanese government officials — including then-Minister of Energy Gebran Bassil and then-Prime Minister Saad Hariri — visited Tehran to discuss possible offers. The Ministry of Energy prepared studies on the subject, especially regarding the possibility of Iran building electric power generation plants in Lebanon. However, that project was frozen because of Iran’s international legal status and the sanctions imposed on it. At the time, Lebanon feared it could be affected by the sanctions if it cooperated with Iran, even in peaceful and civilian fields, according to Mokalled.
Beirut and Tehran may consider power generation a priority now, since Iran's experience in this area is extensive, and so is the potential. According to Mokalled, Iran has a surplus of 8,000 megawatts in electricity production because of its many hydraulic and thermal power plants.
