The United States has demanded that Hezbollah must not be part of Lebanon’s government.

Washington’s Deputy Middle East Envoy Morgan Ortagus said on Friday after meeting Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun that she was “not afraid” of the armed group “because they’ve been defeated militarily”. However, she said that the US has made its continued role in the government a “red line”.

Later on Friday, the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, Mohammed Raad, slammed Ortagus’s comments as “blatant interference” in Lebanon’s affairs.

Ortagus is the first senior US official to visit Lebanon since US President Donald Trump took office and since Aoun was elected president.

Her visit comes amid a stalled cabinet formation process in Lebanon, where government posts are apportioned on sectarian lines. Hezbollah’s ally, the Amal Movement, has insisted on approving all Shia Muslim ministers, keeping the process in deadlock.