Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with Iranian Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf at the Grand Serail on Oct. 12, 2024. Photo provided by Mikati's press office.
Iranian Parliament President Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf visited the site of a deadly Israeli strike in Beirut on Saturday, targeting Hezbollah's security chief Wafic Safa, whose fate remains unknown, according to AFP.
Ghalibaf arrived in Lebanon on Saturday morning and began his meetings with officials by meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. He was welcomed at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport (RHIA) by Amal Movement Deputy Mohammad Khawaja, representing Lebanese Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, and Hezbollah deputies Hassan Ezzeddine and Ibrahim Moussaoui, according to the National News Agency (NNA).
''We have always stood by the Lebanese people, their resistance and the Lebanese government,'' Ghalibaf said at RHIA. ''At the end of my tour, I will go to Geneva and carry with me the issues of the oppressed Lebanese and Palestinian people,'' he added.
Implementation of Resolution 1701
During his meeting with Ghalibaf, caretaker Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati emphasized that ''the government's priority during this period is to achieve a cease-fire and stop Israeli attacks.''
''Lebanon is committed to the implementation of Resolution 1701 and the presence of the army in the south. We are making the necessary contacts with decision-making countries and the United Nations to pressure Israel for the full implementation of this resolution,'' the Prime Minister added, according to NNA.
Additionally, Mikati received a call from U.S. Envoy Amos Hochstein, with whom he discussed ways to achieve a cease-fire in order to resume discussions on a political solution related to the implementation of Resolution 1701.
The Iranian Speaker of Parliament is expected to meet with Berri and several party leaders and deputies, NNA reported. His visit comes less than 10 days after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was the first Iranian diplomat to set foot in Lebanon since the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli strike on Sept. 27. Araghchi had expressed his country's efforts to achieve a simultaneous cease-fire in Lebanon and Gaza.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.
