Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (right) meets Iranian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Bagheri in Ain al-Tineh, in Beirut, on Feb. 8, 2023. (Credit: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament)
During a visit to Beirut, Iranian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Bagheri on Wednesday stated his "support" for "the Lebanese Resistance" — a statement widely understood as a clear reference to his country's commitment to supporting Hezbollah. Bagheri made his remarks from Ain al-Tineh following a meeting with Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Bagheri is also Iran's chief negotiator in international talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.
The Iranian senior official also pointed to an "embargo exercised by the enemies of the region against Iran and Lebanon," without naming those enemies.
Hezbollah regularly accuses the United States in collusion with Israel of enforcing an embargo on Lebanon, a country mired in a severe economic crisis.
Bagheri also said he and Berri discussed the "good and constructive relations between the two brotherly countries and local and regional developments."
"I assured Berri that Iran will always stand by Lebanon, whose security, stability and progress it supports," Bagheri said, before stating his "support" for the "Lebanese Resistance against the country's enemies."
Pointing to the "embargo" exercised by the enemies of the region against Iran and Lebanon," Bagheri assured that "Lebanon and the Resistance will remain in a position of strength and able to fight against these attempts."
"The Iranian Islamic Republic will keep on supporting the Lebanese people in various fields," he added.
Bagheri's visit to Lebanon comes less than a month after a visit by Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, during which he met with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, as well as with Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. Abdollahian said at the time that his country "does not interfere in the internal affairs" of Lebanon, and called for "a quick [presidential] election process" in the country. Lebanon has been without a head of state since the end of Michel Aoun's term in office on Oct. 31.