Iran supports Lebanon in ceasefire talks, calls for end to 'problems'

A senior Iranian official said on Friday that Iran will support any decision made by Lebanon in ceasefire talks with Israel, indicating Tehran's desire for an end to the conflict that has heavily impacted its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, News.Az reports citing CBC news.

Ali Larijani, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, spoke during a visit to Beirut as Israel kept up its intensified bombardment of Hezbollah-controlled areas of the Lebanese capital.

Israel has this week stepped up airstrikes against the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs — an escalation that has coincided with indications of movement in U.S.-led diplomatic contacts toward ending the conflict.

The U.S. ambassador to Lebanon submitted a draft truce proposal on Thursday to Lebanon's parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, who is endorsed by Hezbollah to negotiate, two senior Lebanese political sources told Reuters.

The draft was Washington's first written proposal to halt fighting between its ally Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in at least several weeks, the sources said. The sources did not provide details about the contents of the proposal.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Berri, Larijani said Berri had provided him with "good clarifications."

"We are not looking to sabotage anything," Larijani said, responding to a reporter who asked whether he had come to Beirut to wreck the American draft.

"We are after a solution to the problems. We support in all circumstances the Lebanese government. Those who are disrupting are Netanyahu and his people," Larijani said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

News.Az