Lebanon’s president has told a senior Iranian official that Beirut rejects any interference in its internal affairs and has criticised Tehran’s statements on plans to disarm Hezbollah as “unconstructive”.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council chief Ali Larijani’s visit to Beirut on Wednesday comes a week after the Lebanese government ordered the army to devise plans by the end of 2025 to disarm the Iran-aligned Lebanese armed group.
Iran expressed opposition to the plan to disarm Hezbollah, which before a war with Israel last year was believed to be better armed than the Lebanese military.
“It is forbidden for anyone … to bear arms and to use foreign backing as leverage,” Aoun told Larijani, according to a statement from the Lebanese presidency posted on X.
Larijani responded to Aoun by stating that Iran does not interfere in Lebanese decision-making, and that foreign countries should not give orders to Lebanon.
“Any decision taken by the Lebanese government in consultation with the resistance is respected by us,” he said after separate talks with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, whose Amal Movement is an ally of Hezbollah.
“Iran didn’t bring any plan to Lebanon, the US did. Those intervening in Lebanese affairs are those dictating plans and deadlines”, said Larijani.
He said Lebanon should not “mix its enemies with its friends – your enemy is Israel, your friend is the resistance”.
Larijani further added that Lebanon should appreciate Hezbollah, and its “value of resistance”.
Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said Larijani appeared to have softened his language on the visit.
“Ali Larijani has been using more diplomatic language than … a few days ago [when] he was blunt that Iran opposes the Lebanese government’s decision to disarm Hezbollah.”
“He said that Iran’s policy is about friendly cooperation, not giving orders and timetables, so he was referring to the United States, the US envoy, which presented a plan to end tensions with Israel, and that plan involves disarming Hezbollah [on] a four-month timetable.”
A ‘state-by-state’ relationship
Dozens of Hezbollah supporters gathered along the airport road to welcome Larijani on Wednesday morning. He briefly stepped out of his car to greet them as they chanted slogans.
“If … the Lebanese people are suffering, we in Iran will also feel this pain and we will stand by the dear people of Lebanon in all circumstances,” Larijani told reporters shortly after landing in Beirut.
The Iranian official is also scheduled to meet Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, as well as Berri, who is close to Hezbollah.
Iran has suffered a series of blows in its long-running rivalry with Israel, including during 12 days of open war between the two countries in June.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, was weakened during the war with Israel, which ended in a November 2024 ceasefire that Israel continues to violate.
The new Lebanese government, backed by the United States, has moved to further restrain the group.
“What the new Lebanese leadership wants is a state-by-state relationship, not like in the past where … the Iranians would be dealing with Hezbollah and not [with] the Lebanese state,” said Khodr.
Hezbollah has called the government’s disarmament decision a “grave sin”.
Khodr said the tensions have sparked concern about potential unrest in the country.
Hezbollah is part of Iran’s so-called “axis of resistance” – a network of aligned armed groups in the region, including Hamas in Gaza and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who oppose Israel.
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