Lebanese Pop Star: Coronavirus Spread from Iran Because Officials Feared Hezbollah

Outspoken Lebanese pop star Elissa, one of the most popular female singers in the Arab world, on Monday accused her government of refusing to cancel flights from Iran to keep the Wuhan coronavirus at bay because officials feared to antagonize Hezbollah, a Lebanese terrorist organization and political party supported by Tehran.

“Our country is shameless. I cannot find a better word to express what is going on,” Elissa said in a Tweet on Monday. 

“Only because we don’t want to upset Hezbollah, we don’t stop Iran flights. On top of all that, they tell us not to panic!” she exclaimed.

“When will we be rid of the sheep’s mentality and start talking logic and science?? What is this place we live in??” she asked.

The singer was responding to Lebanon’s first confirmed case of the coronavirus, a 45-year-old woman who apparently brought the virus with her from Iran and is currently hospitalized in Beirut. A second case was confirmed and quarantined in Beirut after Elissa made her remarks. The second patient reportedly arrived on the same flight from Iran as the first one.

In the course of reporting Elissa’s comments, al-Arabiya News noted that other Lebanese are making similar points about the recklessness of allowing travel from Iran even as coronavirus cases add up quickly in that country. Iran has reported 139 infections and 19 deaths to date, the highest numbers outside China.

“Lebanon continues to allow Iran to export its virus, sectarianism, arms, and funds to Hezbollah,” Lebanese journalist Jerry Maher charged.

The Lebanese government responded to public pressure on Tuesday by announcing that flights from countries with coronavirus outbreaks will be restricted and religious pilgrimages will be temporarily halted. Lawmakers said Lebanese currently visiting other countries will be allowed to return before the travel bans go into effect.

Elissa, whose full name is Elissar Khoury, has a reputation for being outspoken and politically active. She is noted for breaking numerous taboos in the Arab world, including her public disclosure in 2018 that she survived a battle with breast cancer.

After selling over 30 million albums worldwide, the 46-year-old announced last summer that her next album will be her last because she wants to retire from “a field that is similar to mafias” in which she “can’t be productive anymore.” This was evidently a reference to aggressive business practices in the recording industry that forced her music to be removed from a streaming service where it was extremely popular.