Lebanon tells Iran to respect sovereignty, deal through state institutions

 

Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that relations with Iran must be conducted through the country’s constitutional and legitimate state institutions, responding to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi after he said Tehran wanted ties with both the Lebanese government and political groups and factions inside the country.

Araghchi said on Friday that Iran sought good relations with “all groups and factions in Lebanon” as well as with the Lebanese government, while criticizing some government policies and expressing hope that Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry would show “greater rationality.”

“Rationality in relations between states requires, first and foremost, dealing with states through their constitutional and legitimate institutions, not with ‘parties’ or ‘factions’ within them,” Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry said in response.

The ministry welcomed Araghchi’s stated interest in maintaining good relations with the Lebanese government and said Lebanon had always sought strong ties with all countries, including Iran.

It added that just as Iran or any other country would not accept a Lebanese ambassador bypassing its official institutions to deal independently with groups or factions inside the country, Lebanon would not accept such conduct either.

“Relations between states are built with states and through them, and respect for sovereignty is a reciprocal principle that does not allow selectivity or circumvention,” the ministry said.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202608300767