BEIRUT, Lebanon — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem, the Tehran-backed Lebanese group said Wednesday, with the terror organization under domestic and international pressure to disarm.
The statement did not specify where or when Qassem’s meeting with Araghchi, who arrived in Beirut on Tuesday, took place.
Qassem, who took over last year after Israeli strikes killed the group’s longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah and othertop leaders, thanked Araghchi for Iran’s “ongoing support for the Lebanese people” and Hezbollah.
He also told Araghchi of Hezbollah’s “work to revive Lebanon and its stability and sovereignty, and to expel the occupation from (Lebanese) territory,” the statement said, referring to Israel.
A November ceasefire largely halted more than a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, including two months of all-out war that left the Iran-backed group heavily weakened.
Hezbollah began firing across the border on October 8, 2023, the day after the allied Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating invasion of southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. The deadly Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks, which reached progressively further into Israel, drove some 60,000 northern residents from their homes.
Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas are all avowed to destroy Israel.
Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah fighters were to pull back beyond the Litani River in the country’s south and cede control of the area to the Lebanese army.
Israel was to withdraw all forces from Lebanon, but has kept troops in five areas that it deems strategic. Israel also retained the right to respond to immediate threats and still carries out regular strikes on the country.
Lebanese authorities have vowed to implement a state monopoly on bearing arms amid international pressure, including from Washington, though President Joseph Aoun has said disarming Hezbollah is a “delicate” matter that requires dialogue.
Qassem has vowed that Hezbollah will not disarm, saying in April that his group is ready for dialogue on a “defense strategy,” but not under the “pressure of occupation” by Israel.
During the visit, Araghchi met senior officials on Tuesday, including Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, parliament speaker Nabih Berri — a close Hezbollah ally — and Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi.
Raggi said on X that he expressed “Lebanon’s hope that Iran remains committed to supporting our country’s security and internal stability,” including efforts to ensure “that arms are held solely by the state.”
On Wednesday, Araghchi on X said that during the trip he expressed his full support for Lebanon’s stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
“Our goal and hope is to open a new page in our centuries-long ties, built on mutual respect and common interests,” he added.
A Lebanese official told AFP that the minister’s visit opened “a new page” in ties based on “non-interference.” Iran’s support in arming and financing Hezbollah has long destabilized Lebanon.
With Hezbollah weakened by the war with Israel, Aoun and Salam took office after the war and following a more than two-year leadership vacuum as the balance of power shifted.
Aoun said after his meeting with Araghchi that he emphasized the importance of dialogue in “resolving differences,” a presidency statement said, adding that post-war reconstruction was a priority for the authorities.
The conflict left swaths of the country heavily damaged, particularly Hezbollah strongholds. The World Bank has estimated the overall cost to Lebanon at $8 billion.
On Tuesday, Araghchi told reporters that “Iranian companies are ready to take part in Lebanon’s reconstruction.”
He also laid a wreath at Nasrallah’s grave.