Lebanon seeks 'new chapter' with Iran as leaders hold rare talks at UN

Lebanon 's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said his country was seeking a “new chapter” in relations with Iran after meeting its President Masoud Pezeshkian at the UN on Thursday.

The rare face-to-face meeting between senior Lebanese and Iranian leaders came as both were in New York for the UN General Assembly .

Iran has for decades cast a long shadow over Lebanese politics due to the influence of Hezbollah , one of Tehran's main proxies in the region.

That resulted in Lebanon being dragged into the Iran war in March when Hezbollah entered the conflict in solidarity with its allies in Tehran. The Israeli military has responded with a destructive campaign inside Lebanon.

Mr Salam's government was pushing even before then to curb Iranian influence in Lebanon, notably by disarming Hezbollah .

Lebanon “does not want to be a battlefield for regional conflicts or an arena for exchanging messages”, Mr Salam told Mr Pezeshkian on Thursday. He said Lebanon “looks forward to opening a new chapter” with Iran and “building a sound state-to-state relationship based on respect for each other's sovereignty and independence”.

Mr Salam also encouraged Iran to nominate a new ambassador to Lebanon, addressing a sore point between the countries. Iran's chosen envoy Mohammad Reza Sheibani had his approval withdrawn and was declared unwelcome in Lebanon after fighting broke out in March.

Lebanon has instead sought backing from the US to end the conflict with Israel. An agreement was made in Washington in June for Israeli troops to withdraw from parts of Lebanon where Hezbollah was disarmed but implementation has faced various setbacks.

Hezbollah maintains it will not hand over its weapons, saying they are needed to defend against Israel.

State media in Iran gave no details of the meeting between Mr Pezeshkian and Mr Salam. The Iranian President had addressed the UN assembly a day earlier.

In his speech he warned that no single country could achieve security in the Middle East. “Peace that does not encompass all is no peace,” he said.