Iran FM Says Ready to Help Lebanon Solve its Problems, ‘Confront Enemies’

Lebanese President Michel Aoun, right, meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, October 7, 2021. (Dalati Nohra)
Lebanese President Michel Aoun, right, meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, October 7, 2021. (Dalati Nohra)
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Iran FM Says Ready to Help Lebanon Solve its Problems, ‘Confront Enemies’

Lebanese President Michel Aoun, right, meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, October 7, 2021. (Dalati Nohra)
Lebanese President Michel Aoun, right, meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, October 7, 2021. (Dalati Nohra)

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian expressed his country’s readiness to help Lebanon solve its problems and build power plants.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati said his country welcomed any effort from brotherly and friendly countries and the international community “as long as it falls within the context of helping preserve the the state and its constitutional institutions.”

Abdollahian had arrived in Beirut on Wednesday, following a visit to Moscow. He met with President Michel Aoun, Mikati and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri before holding a press conference with his Lebanese counterpart, Abdullah Bou Habib.

Upon his arrival, the Iranian foreign minister was received by the Director of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abeer Al-Ali, Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad-Jalal Firouznia and delegations from the Amal movement and Hezbollah party.

Aoun voiced Lebanon’s support for Tehran’s efforts to achieve more rapprochement with the countries of the region, especially Arab states, and praised Iran’s “solidarity with Lebanon in facing its crises, and the assistance the country has provided following the Beirut port explosion.”

In remarks following his meeting with Berri, Abdollahian said there was a “joint emphasis on the need to enhance cooperation between the two brotherly countries in various fields.” They also highlighted the “the importance of the role played by the valiant Lebanese resistance in confronting Israel.”

The FM continued: “We have positively evaluated the Iranian-Saudi negotiations, and we believe that the presence of foreign powers in the region is the main factor that destabilizes security and creates problems.”

Mikati, for his part, told the Iranian official that Lebanon was “in dire need to improve the Lebanese people’s trust in the state and its institutions, through forging normal relations between countries based on mutual respect and common interests.”

He also welcomed the recent positive dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran in Baghdad.



Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
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Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)

A Tunisian court on Tuesday handed jail terms of 12 to 35 years on high-profile politicians, including opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi and former security officials, a move that critics say underscores the president's use of the judiciary to cement “authoritarian rule”.

Among those sentenced on charges of conspiring against the state in the major mass trial, were Nadia Akacha, the former chief of staff to President Kais Saied, local radio Mosaique FM said. Akacha who fled abroad received 35 years.

Ghannouchi, 84, veteran head of the Islamist-leaning Ennahda party, was handed a 14-year term.

Ghannouchi who was the speaker of the elected parliament dissolved by Saied, has been in prison since 2023, receiving three sentences of a total of 27 years in separate cases in recent months.

A total of 21 were charged in the case, with 10 already in custody and 11 having fled the country.

The court sentenced former intelligence chief Kamel Guizani to 35 years, former Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem to 35 years, and Mouadh Ghannouchi, son of Rached Ghannouchi, to 35 years. All three have fled the country.

Saied dissolved the parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree, then dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges, a move that opposition called a coup which undermined the nascent democracy that sparked in 2011 the so-called “Arab Spring” uprisings.

Saied rejects the accusations and says his steps are legal and aim to end years of chaos and corruption hidden within the political elite.

Most opposition leaders, some journalists, and critics of Saied have been imprisoned since he seized control of most powers in 2021.

This year, a court handed jail terms of 5 to 66 years to opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers on charges of conspiring as well, a case the opposition says is fabricated in an attempt to stamp out opposition to the president.