WASHINGTON’S financial, economic and political siege of Lebanon has started to crumble, according to parliamentarian Hassan Fadlallah, as oil shipments from Iran arrive in Syria.

The Hezbollah MP said on Saturday that the US had “failed in its bid to impose its will on Lebanon,” which, as a country, is facing the world’s worst financial crisis since the mid-19th century, according to the World Bank.

Fuel shortages have resulted in blackouts across the country; hospitals warned last month that hundreds of patients would die if they were unable to power their generators.

The first shipments of oil from Iran arrived in Syria on Thursday, from where it will be transported to Lebanon via tankers. 

The deal, negotiated by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is seen as a watershed moment in challenging the United States sanctions that have hit Iran, Syria, Lebanon and other regional countries.

The US previously blocked attempts to import oil via Syria, threatening action against those who breach its embargo. But the current fuel shipments have been bought by a group of Lebanese Shi’te businessmen, and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Friday that Tehran is prepared to sell more should Lebanon require it.

“As the Lebanese are preparing to receive Iranian fuel with the arrival of the first ship, the doors of the American blockade have begun to break, and options are opened for Lebanon to alleviate the impact of its crisis, after the American administration was forced to back down from its threats and maximum pressure in the face of the will of the Lebanese people,” Mr Fadlallah said.

“The cargo of this ship will be a precise bullet that will break the financial, economic and political siege imposed on our people, especially as it will reach those who need it through a transparent and publicised mechanism in which there is no place for monopolists, smugglers, policy brokers and American investment associations, who traffic in people’s pain,” the MP said.

Many hold Washington responsible for deepening the crisis through its sanctions on neighbouring Syria and accuse the US of seeking to take advantage of the political stalemate that has seen Lebanon without a functioning government for more than a year.

The oil deal has widespread support from the Lebanese people, though opposition has been raised by Sunni politician Saad al-Hariri, the former prime minister, who fears it will lead to more sanctions.

A high-level delegation of Lebanese politicians arrived in Syria for talks on bilateral relations on Saturday, the first such meeting since 2011.

Agreement was reached on the import of gas from Egypt via Syria and Jordan, which is thought to be a longer-term solution to the fuel crisis, though it will take at least a year to bear fruit.