BEIRUT (Reuters) -Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Lebanese officials on Tuesday that Iran wanted to turn a “new page” in relations with Beirut, hinting at a shift in diplomatic ties that were long grounded in supporting Tehran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah was once a powerful armed movement and political party with sway over Lebanon’s state, but it was severely weakened by Israel’s bombing campaign last year. Since then, Lebanon’s U.S.-backed army commander was elected president and a new cabinet with curtailed influence for Hezbollah and its allies took power.
Araqchi’s one-day trip to Beirut on Tuesday was his first since February, when he attended the funeral of Hezbollah’s secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, killed in Israeli air strikes in September.
Araqchi told both Lebanon’s prime minister Nawaf Salam and foreign minister Youssef Raggi that he wanted to “turn a new page” in Iran’s ties with Lebanon, according to statements by Salam and Raggi’s offices.
“Araqchi affirmed his country’s keenness to open a new page in bilateral relations with Lebanon, based on mutual respect and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs,” Salam’s office said. Araqchi also extended a formal invitation for Salam to visit Iran.
The statement from Raggi’s office said the pair had a “frank and direct discussion,” including on establishing the state’s monopoly on the use of arms – an apparent reference to possible negotiations on the future of Hezbollah’s arsenal.
The top Iranian diplomat briefly addressed reporters on Tuesday after meeting with Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who is a key Hezbollah ally. Unlike previous addresses by Iranian diplomats, his comments did not mention Hezbollah.
The visit followed several turbulent episodes in ties between the two countries.
Lebanon’s foreign ministry summoned Iran’s ambassador to Beirut in April over comments alleging that plans to disarm Hezbollah were a “conspiracy”.
Last year, then-prime minister Najib Mikati also issued a rare rebuke of Iran for “interfering” in internal Lebanese affairs.
In February, Iran blocked Lebanese planes from repatriating dozens of Lebanese nationals stranded in Tehran after Lebanon said it would not allow Iranian aircraft to land in Beirut because of Israel’s threats that it would bomb the planes.
(Reporting by Laila Bassam, Tom Perry and Maya Gebeily; Writing by Maya Gebeily, Editing by William Maclean)
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