Iran FM, Lebanon parliament chief discuss bilateral ties, intl. issues

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian sat down with Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday afternoon for talks on issues of mutual interest at bilateral, regional and international levels.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian sat down with Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday afternoon for talks on issues of mutual interest at bilateral, regional and international levels.
During the meeting, the top Iranian diplomat highlighted Iran’s technical and engineering capabilities, voicing the Islamic Republic’s readiness to cooperate with Lebanon in meeting the Arab country’s energy needs, including in the fields of electricity and gas.
Amir Abdollahian referred to the emphasis placed by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on the need to activate the agreements reached with other countries, saying Iran stands prepared to expand mutual economic and trade cooperation with the friendly and neighborly state of Lebanon, in parallel with a mutual implementation of deals.
Turning to the regional and international developments, he said the Islamic Republic’s stance on the crises unfolding in the world, including the Ukraine conflict, remains clear and transparent and free from the influence of foreign players.
“We are against war whether it is in Afghanistan, or in Yemen, or in Ukraine. At the same time, the imposition of unilateral sanctions by the Western states is also unacceptable to us. The Islamic Republic of Iran encourages a resolution of the developments in Ukraine through political dialog,” the foreign minister said.
Amir Abdollahian also pointed to the process of talks underway in Vienna and said the Iranian side is serious in achieving a good, lasting deal in the negotiations. At the same time, he added, Iran does not seek a prolongation of the process and will not cross its own red lines.
For his part, the Lebanese parliament speaker pointed to electricity shortages in his country and said some instances of mismanagement have contributed to the situation.
After Iran made good on its promise of sending fuel to Lebanon, which showed the Islamic Republic’s solidarity with and support for the Arab country in difficult times, the US has so far failed to fulfill its pledge of providing Lebanon with the needed energy despite pretending to be activating a gas pipeline project, Berri said.
Berri described the developments in Ukraine as European-European crisis, which will mostly harm the European states.
The Lebanese parliament chief also criticized a move by some Arab countries to normalize relations with the Zionist regime and recalled that thousands of Lebanese were martyred to protect the Arab nations’ cause of confronting the occupying regime.
This is while, he added, a number of Arab countries have reached a compromise with the Israeli regime by turning their back on the same cause.
Berri described Iran as the main source of resistance in the region as well as a source of inspiration for all resistance movements worldwide.