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Dialogue Needed over Issue of Lebanon's 'Neutrality' in Region, Says PM Diab

Prime Minister Hassan Diab meets Patriarch al-Rai in Diman. (Dalati & Nohra)
Prime Minister Hassan Diab meets Patriarch al-Rai in Diman. (Dalati & Nohra)
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Dialogue Needed over Issue of Lebanon's 'Neutrality' in Region, Says PM Diab

Prime Minister Hassan Diab meets Patriarch al-Rai in Diman. (Dalati & Nohra)
Prime Minister Hassan Diab meets Patriarch al-Rai in Diman. (Dalati & Nohra)

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab said on Saturday dialogue was needed over the country’s stance on regional conflicts, after meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai who has urged Lebanon to remain neutral to help it out of its crisis.

The country is in the grip of a financial meltdown, raising concerns for its stability, and is badly in need of foreign aid. Hopes of salvation through an IMF deal have retreated with the government hamstrung by the conflicting agendas of sectarian leaders.

Rai has made several comments this month that were widely interpreted as criticism of both the Iran-backed Hezbollah party and its ally President Michel Aoun, both backers of Diab’s cabinet.

“The issue of neutrality is a political one ... and it needs deep dialogue between all the political sides in Lebanon,” Diab said after meeting with Rai on Saturday.

“We are fundamentally a neutral country...and in the end, our salvation is in our neutrality,” Rai told local broadcaster LBCI later on Saturday.

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Iran Rejects Accusations it Interfered in Syria

Women smoke a water pipe as they sit on a lookout area at the mount Qasioun in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Women smoke a water pipe as they sit on a lookout area at the mount Qasioun in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
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Iran Rejects Accusations it Interfered in Syria

Women smoke a water pipe as they sit on a lookout area at the mount Qasioun in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Women smoke a water pipe as they sit on a lookout area at the mount Qasioun in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Iran's foreign ministry on Thursday expressed “concern” over “the spread of chaos and violence” in Syria and rejected accusations that Tehran interfered in Syria, after the new Syrian foreign minister told Tehran not to spread chaos in his country.
"We reject the baseless accusations by some media ... against Iran over interfering in Syria's internal affairs," Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei was quoted as saying by state media.
"It is necessary to prevent the spread of insecurity and violence ... and ensure the security of Syrian citizens," he added.

Syria's newly appointed foreign minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, said on Tuesday that Iran must respect the will of the Syrian people and Syria's sovereignty and security.

"We warn them against spreading chaos in Syria and we hold them accountable for the repercussions of the latest remarks," he said.

On Sunday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called on Syrian youth to "stand with firm determination against those who have orchestrated and brought about this insecurity.”

Khamenei forecast "that a strong and honorable group will also emerge in Syria because today Syrian youth have nothing to lose,” calling the country unsafe.

The former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohsen Rezaee, said that the Syrian people “will not remain silent in the face of foreign occupation and aggression” or “the tyranny of an internal group.”

He added: "They will revive the resistance in Syria in a new form in less than a year."

"They will fail the malicious and deceptive plan led by America, the Zionist entity, and the regional countries that have been manipulated,” he added.