Lebanon’s foreign minister has come under fire from other members of the government for saying in an interview earlier this week that “we are not against Israel living in security,” Reuters reported Thursday.

Gebran Bassil made the comments in an interview with al-Mayadin television channel, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, on Tuesday. In response to criticisms from other members of Lebanon’s government Bassil said that his comments were taken out of context by editing but didn’t explain how.

A former government minister called on Bassil to resign and he has been criticized by others.

Lebanon, according to an assessment in August by Maj.- Gen. Herzi Halevi, head of Israel’s military intelligence, is under ever tighter control by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist group.

Hezbollah and the Lebanese Armed Forces have fought side by side against ISIS in northeastern Lebanon, further demonstrating the complete political and military control the Iranian-backed group exerts over its host country.

In November Tony Badran, an expert on Lebanon with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s short-lived resignation was a sign that “Lebanon is an Iranian satrapy run by Hezbollah.”

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