Zarif urges focus on common interests to consolidate Iran, Lebanon progress

Talking to reporters on Monday after a meeting with the newly-elected Lebanese President Michel Aoun Monday night, he said he was optimistic about the future of ties with Lebanon.

According to IRNA, he said he saw relations between Iran and Lebanon as serving common interests of both sides.

The Iranian foreign minister stressed that Iran-Lebanon relations were against no other countries.

He said Iran regarded the election of the new Lebanese president after such a long period as a victory for the Lebanese nation as a whole.

Noting that he is in Lebanon heading a senior economic and political delegation which also includes the head of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce as well as a number of industrialists and entrepreneurs, Zarif said Iran and Lebanon have a number of enemies like the Zionist regime and terrorist Takfiri groups in common in addition to their common interests so Iran is going to stay with the Lebanese nation in both arenas.

In answer to a question about the fate of Nizar Zakka who is under arrest in Iran, he said his issue is not a problem between the Iranian and Lebanese governments.

He said the issue is about a single individual who run into trouble with the Iranian judiciary because of his illegal actions.

Indeed, the minister stressed, the problem is between Iran and the US. 

In answer to another question, he said the remarks made by President Aoun during his inauguration speech about Lebanon’s determination to wage a deterrent war to uproot terrorists revealed the depth of his awareness of a danger which threatens not just Lebanon but the whole region.

He said the threat of the Zionist regime as an occupying force which violates human rights is acknowledged by the whole world.

The Iranian foreign minister further stressed that the Zionist regime was threatening the world with its nuclear arms and was regarded as a menace to universal peace and security because of possessing such dangerous armaments.

Likewise, Zarif added, Takfiri groups pose threats not only to Syria and Lebanon but to all regional and world countries but particularly to Lebanon which is subject to huge volumes of crimes committed by terrorist groups.

He said this compels the international community to stay with Lebanon and support it.

Zarif arrived in Beirut at the head of a politico-economic delegation on Monday for talks with top-ranking Lebanese officials.

The visit to Beirut by Zarif comes a week after Michel Aoun became the Lebanese president, putting an end to a political stand-off that had left the post empty for more than two years. 

Apart from meeting with President Aoun in his Beirut visit, the foreign minister was scheduled to meet with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, incumbent prime minister Tammam Salam and Saad Hariri, who has been asked by President Aoun to form a new government. 

Zarif will also have a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil. 

He is also scheduled to meet with representatives of Lebanese national groups and Beirut-based Palestinian resistance groups. 

This is Zarif's third visit to Lebanon since he took office three years ago.

After his one-day visit to Lebanon, the foreign minister will begin his tour of Eastern Europe which will take him to Romania, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.