Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir abdollahian and his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib in a meeting on Friday discussed bilateral, regional, and international issues.
Amir abdollahian met and held talks with Bou Habib in Lebanon on Friday.
The meeting was held at the Lebanese Foreign Ministry and the Foreign Ministers of Iran and Lebanon are scheduled to attend a joint press conference.
Upon arrival at Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport late Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian said his visit, which comes at the official invitation of his caretaker counterpart Abdallah Bou habib, is aimed at holding consultations on bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues, including the latest developments across the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will mightily continue its support for the Lebanese people, government, army and resistance forces,” the top Iranian diplomat noted.
Amir-Abdollahian also pointed to Lebanon’s political crisis to elect a successor to former president Michel Aoun after the post was vacated on October 31 last year.
“We have no doubt that various political factions in Lebanon will be able to elect a new president competently and without any foreign interference,” he said.
The minister invited all Lebanese political blocs to engage in dialogue and reach consensus in order to break the political deadlock in electing a new president.
Lebanon’s presidency has seen stalemate several times since the 1975-1990 civil war. The country has also had only a caretaker government since last May.
The Arab country has been mired in an economic crisis that the World Bank has dubbed one of the worst in recent history, which comes amid crippling sanctions imposed by the US and its allies.
The Lebanese pound has lost more than 95 percent of its value on the black market since 2019.
According to the United Nations, the ongoing financial crisis in Lebanon has caused poverty rates to reach more than 80 percent of the population, and food prices have risen by an astonishing 2,000 percent.
Creditors under the US influence such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have conditioned the release of billions of dollars in emergency loans to specific reforms which many observers would make the country dependent on the West.
Source: Press TV
