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Support for Political Solution to Lebanon Crisis

Support for Political  Solution to Lebanon Crisis
Support for Political  Solution to Lebanon Crisis

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif voiced Tehran’s support for efforts to reach a solution to the political crisis facing Lebanon, including every initiative to establish dialogue and promote understanding among Lebanese groups and parties.

The minister reiterated Iran’s support for the Arab republic in a Monday meeting with United Nation’s Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag, who was in Tehran to meet Iranian authorities to discuss the latest political developments in Lebanon as well as the situation in the region, IRNA reported.  

Calling for efforts to restore political stability in Lebanon through national dialogue, Zarif said, “We are pretty sure once the Lebanese are released from foreign pressure, they will soon come to a political solution,” expressing hope that the UN would play a supportive role in this regard.

Since May 2014, when former Lebanese president Michel Suleiman left office at the end of his tenure, the Lebanese parliament failed to pick a new president, resulting in the continuation of a presidential power vacuum that has negatively affected the Arab country.

The minister also voiced concern over the fate of the three Iranian diplomats and a photographer kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982 and called on the UN to help find the missing Iranian citizens.

The UN envoy hailed Iran’s efforts to help promote peace and stability in Lebanon.

Pointing to the failure to secure a quorum in a bid in 2014 to elect a president for the West Asian country, Kaag said the current political gap in Lebanon is “beneath the dignity” of the country.

However, she highlighted that “despite the ongoing crises in the neighboring regional states, the current stability in Lebanon is significant and needs to be preserved.”

On behalf of the UN, Kaag called for peaceful coexistence among various ethnic groups and urged the Lebanese to avoid sectarianism to help pave the way for achieving political stability in the Arab country, expressing hope a president would be selected in the shortest possible time.

  Special Status

In a separate meeting with the UN coordinator on the same day, Leader’s adviser on international affairs Ali Akbar Velayati called on the world body to take steps to help address problems gripping the Middle East and bring peace to the region.

Pointing to the special status of Lebanon in the Arab world as well as the region, he said the Lebanese people are highly literate and cultured and have always played a leading role in the Arab world.

The director of the Center for Strategic Research of the Expediency Council pointed to the coexistence of diverse groups that follow various schools of thoughts in the Arab country and said the biggest political problem facing Lebanon, namely the election of a president, can be solved by the wisdom of Lebanese nation and authorities.

The UN envoy hoped that the “complicated” situation in Lebanon can be resolved and will turn into an opportunity for increased Beirut-Tehran cooperation.

Financialtribune.com