Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. (Credit: Atta Kenare/AFP/File)
BEIRUT — Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian arrived Thursday evening in Beirut for a three-day visit, during which he plans to meet with several political leaders, the National news agency reported.
Abdollahian is scheduled to meet with his counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib on Friday morning, as well as with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the same day, L'Orient Today's political correspondent reported.
The Iranian head of diplomacy is also expected to meet with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, one of Iran's main allies in the region. This meeting is being coordinated by the Iranian Embassy in Beirut and Hezbollah, according to our correspondent.
The Iranian minister's visit comes at a time when Iran continues to be shaken by monthslong mass protests triggered by the alleged murder of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman, who was arrested by the morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic's strict dress code.
The Iranian regime's bloody repression of the protests, which included several executions, has prompted several Western powers to impose a series of sanctions on the Iranian regime.
The visit of the head of Iranian diplomacy to Lebanon also comes amid a tense regional context: negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue have been at a standstill for months, raising fears of a possible regional military conflict. Meanwhile, Israel has announced military maneuvers in the occupied Shebaa area, on the border between Lebanon and Syria, thus accentuating apprehensions of a larger-scale confrontation, which might directly or indirectly involve Iran.
Additional reporting by Hoda Chedid