Top Iranian official vows support for Lebanon on Israel-Hezbollah war

Beirut: A top Iranian official pledged his country’s unwavering support for Lebanon after talks Friday with Lebanese leaders on the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah, which came as the United States continued actively pushing both sides to agree to a new cease-fire deal.

Ali Larijani, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, said he hoped circumstances would soon improve in Lebanon so that displaced people could return home.

“The main aim of our visit is to loudly say that we will stand by Lebanon’s government and people,” Larijani told reporters after separate meetings with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

The US has been trying to broker an end to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which came

as the 13-month war with Hamas broadened in September into southern and eastern Lebanon as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Both Hezbollah and Hamas are backed by Iran.