Emmanuel Macron (L) and Mohammad ben Salmane (R) in Paris, July 2022. (Credit: AFP/File photo)
BEIRUT — French President Emmanuel Macron told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as "MBS," spoke about Lebanon during their meeting in Paris on Friday.
Macron reportedly informed bin Salman that he told Iran that Hezbollah needs to "soften its stance to allow the arrival of a new president," according to a diplomatic source at the Élysée Palace.
Hezbollah supports the presidential candidacy of Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh in the election that has been stalled for months. According to the diplomatic source, two world leaders agreed that "the Iranian-Saudi detente should benefit" Lebanon.
A statement issued by the Saudi National News Agency on Friday afternoon made no mention of Lebanon.
Parliament held its twelfth presidential electoral session on Wednesday. Frangieh received 51 votes while former minister Jihad Azour, who is supported by the majority of opponents, received 59 votes.
Six MPs gave their votes to former minister Ziad Baroud (seven, according to Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, eight elected representatives voted for "The New Lebanon," and one vote each went to Lebanese Army commander-in-chief Joseph Aoun and entrepreneur Jihad al-Arab. One blank vote was also counted.
Berri has not yet set a date for the next electoral session.
Earlier in the day on Friday, the French presidency mentioned "a one-to-one lunch" between Emmanuel Macron and Mohammad bin Salman, with the aim of "giving bilateral perspectives and studying the major issues of the moment, whether regional or Ukraine."
Jean-Yves Le Drian, Macron's new special envoy for Lebanon, was not present.
Reporting contributed by Elie Masboungi, president of the Association de presse étrangère (APE) in France