Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Reggi said on Friday during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi in Beirut that Iran should adopt a “new approach” regarding Hezbollah’s weapons, based on the principle that the Lebanese state alone holds the monopoly on arms within its territory.
اضافة اعلان
Araqchi’s visit to Lebanon follows the Lebanese army’s announcement that it has completed disarming Hezbollah from the area extending from the southern border with Israel to the Litani River, as part of an official plan to gradually concentrate weapons under state control.
According to a statement from the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Reggi emphasized: “The defense of Lebanon is the responsibility of the Lebanese state, which, when it holds strategic decision-making and controls decisions on war and peace and centralizes weapons under its authority, can then request assistance from other countries, including Iran.”
He added that “a capable state cannot defend its land and people while an armed group operates outside its authority,” and questioned Araqchi on whether Tehran would accept the presence of an illegal armed group on its own territory.
Reggi called on Iran to “work with Lebanon to find a new approach regarding Hezbollah’s weapons, based on its relationship with the group, so that these weapons are not used as a pretext to weaken Lebanon or any of its communities.”
Araqchi arrived in Lebanon on Thursday, meeting with President Joseph Aoun, and is scheduled to meet with other officials.
Previously, in December, the Lebanese Foreign Minister declined an invitation to visit Iran, citing that the conditions for a productive visit were “not yet suitable.”
AFP
