Minister of Presidential Affairs of Syria, Mansour Azzam visiting President Aoun

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif With President Aoun

by AP

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
on Monday became the first foreign minister to visit newly appointed
Lebanese President Michel Aoun, underscoring the ties between Iran and
Aoun’s Hezbollah-backed presidency. The Shiite militant group and
predominantly Shiite Iran are close allies. Speaking alongside his Lebanese counterpart, Zarif said recent political developments in Lebanon can be the key to breaking the deadlock in wars in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.

Aoun’s appointment by Lebanon’s parliament broke a 29-month impasse that
saw the country’s two main political blocs, one backed by Saudi Arabia and the other by its regional rival Iran, sabotaging 45 successive attempts to select a president. Iran’s local allies are arrayed against Saudi Arabia’s allies in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq. “We believe that this unique Lebanese experience can be the key to break
the political deadlock in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, in conjunction with
the fight against terrorism,” said Zarif.

Aoun also received Syrian state minister Mansour Azzam on Monday.
Hezbollah is fighting alongside Syrian president Bashar Assad’s forces
in the neighboring country’s civil war. Zarif is accompanied on his visit by an economic delegation as Lebanon
and Iran hope to broaden their markets together. Iran is emerging from
international economic sanctions regime after a landmark nuclear
agreement with world powers was reached in 2015, while Lebanon is
looking to revitalize its own lagging economy following two and a half
years of political crisis. Zarif meets with Saudi-backed Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri Tuesday.