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Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Tehran will continue to support Lebanon as it battles a crippling economic crisis.
Beirut, Lebanon – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met Lebanese President Michel Aoun to express Tehran’s willingness to support the cash-strapped country.
Amir-Abdollahian will also meet with recently appointed Prime Minister Najib Mikati, President Nabih Berri, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib and representatives of Palestinian groups on Thursday.
A spokesman for the Shiite political party Hezbollah, Iran’s main ally in Lebanon, told Al Jazeera that Amir-Abdollahian will also meet with representatives of the movement, but no date has yet been set.
“I would like to announce the frank and firm position that the Islamic Republic of Iran, as it has done, will always stand firmly alongside the brotherly Lebanese republic,” Amir-Abdollahian said at the Beirut airport after landed Wednesday night.
A small protest against the Iranian foreign minister’s visit took place in Beirut on Wednesday, with dozens of protesters denouncing what they perceive to be growing Iranian influence in Lebanon.
The visit comes nearly a month after Mikati returned for a third term as prime minister at the head of the first full Lebanese government in more than a year.
Lebanon remains mired in an economic collapse that has plunged three quarters of the population into poverty in recent months, as a crippling fuel crisis has interrupted much of public life as homes and hospitals struggle to keep the lights on. One in four people now depend on food aid from the United Nations World Food Program.
Amir-Abdollahian said Tehran was determined to support Lebanon in breaking the “unjust siege”.
Last month, Hezbollah facilitated the importation of Iranian fuel into the country through the Syrian port of Baniyas and through unofficial border crossings. Supporters of the movement saw the deliveries as a victory against US sanctions against Syria, Iran and Hezbollah, which the US calls a “terrorist” organization.
Iranian-backed party secretary general Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly expressed interest in improving trade with Tehran and Beijing, who he said were ready to support Lebanon with fewer restrictions than countries westerners.
Hezbollah has expanded its patronage and social service networks since the financial crisis hit the country, as state institutions continue to collapse.
Prime Minister Mikati said he intends to improve ties between Lebanon and the international community, especially in the region. Relations with Hezbollah and Iran’s opponent Saudi Arabia are currently at an all-time low, after Riyadh put in place an import ban on Lebanese goods last April.
The international community urged Lebanon to reform its struggling economy by ending endemic corruption and wasteful spending, restructuring its debt and dysfunctional power sector, and increasing transparency mechanisms, in order to unlock economic aid .
Lebanon has resumption of technical discussions with the International Monetary Fund, hoping to resume negotiations for a bailout program.
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