Regional cooperation is the only path toward resolving regional problems in the interest of all nations in the volatile Middle East, says a senior foreign ministry official.
“At this juncture, one of our priorities—for both Iran and other countries in the region—is to end all the crises in the region as soon as possible,” the foreign minister’s special assistant for political affairs, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, told reporters after meeting with Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut on Monday, IRNA reported.
Jaberi Ansari, who had traveled to Lebanon to convey a message from President Hassan Rouhani, said “positive cooperation and interaction” between regional states will help protect their common interests.
He discussed a range of issues with Lebanese leaders and said the presidential message mainly dealt with bilateral relations, regional cooperation and efforts to save the nuclear deal after the US abandoned it in May.
Yemen, Syria
He said “intensive talks” have been held over the months with the aim of improving the situation in Yemen through political dialogue, adding that there is no military solution to the conflict.
On the situation in war-torn Syria, Jaberi Ansari said efforts are underway to help form a committee that would be in charge of making the necessary revisions to the Syrian Constitution.
The return of refugees to their homeland is another issue that needs to be addressed to help put an end to the years-long crisis in that country, he added.
Advisory Role
In separate remarks following his meeting with the Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil on Monday, Jaberi Ansari said Iranian advisors will stay in Syria as long as the government in Damascus requires their assistance, IRNA reported.
He expressed the hope that the 2015 nuclear accord signed between Tehran and world powers would endure with the help of diplomatic negotiations.
Earlier in the day the official called on President Michel Aoun.
Aoun, a political ally of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, said the US decision to leave the nuclear deal with Iran would undermine stability in the Middle East, according to a statement published by his office after the meeting.
Negative Fallout
The US withdrawal from the nuclear agreement will have “negative repercussions for security and stability in the region,” he said, according to the Daily Star.
The president added that Beirut considered the deal “a cornerstone of stability in the region that contributes to making it a zone free of weapons of mass destruction.” He welcomed the commitment of other countries to continue with the deal.
He commended the “efforts by Iran to help end the Syrian crisis” and said this would facilitate the return of Syrian refugees to their country.
Government Formation
Some media reports had linked Jaberi Ansari’s visit to the process of forming the long-awaited government in the country but the Beirut-based Al Akhbar newspaper dismissed the speculation, saying the visit had nothing to do with Lebanon’s internal affairs.
The talks mainly centered on the fate of the nuclear deal, the newspaper wrote, citing informed sources, ISNA reported.
In Lebanon’s parliamentary elections in May, Hezbollah together with groups and individuals that are politically aligned to it won more than half of parliamentary seats.
