Report: Russian, Iranian Officials Discuss Lebanon on Margins of Regional Talks

Russian and Iranian officials addressed on Tuesday the ongoing political deadlock in Lebanon on the margins of contacts aimed at tackling the various regional conflicts, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Wednesday.

Russian sources told the daily that deputy Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Iranian deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdul Lahyan discussed the Lebanese file during a brief telephone call.

Lahyan informed Bogdanov that “the presidential settlement in Lebanon is not ripe yet and more time is needed for it to see the light.”

For his part, the Russian official highlighted the need to resolve the presidential vacuum, but he did not delve into the details, said al-Joumhouria.

Additional information from Moscow said that head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri persuaded Saudi Arabia to go ahead with the political settlement that he had proposed.

The kingdom did not however pledge to convince regional powers to go through with it.

Hariri pledged that he will persuade his Christian allies in Lebanon to agree to it, revealed the daily.

He also requested that Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh convince his allies, especially Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun, to go ahead with it.

Franjieh's chances to reach the Baabda Palace had recently made a dramatic surge in the wake of a Paris meeting between him and Hariri.

The nomination has created tensions among the Christian camps of the Kataeb Party, Lebanese Forces, and Free Patriotic Movement, who all oppose the manner in which Franjieh's candidacy is being proposed.

The candidacy has also created a divide between the Mustaqbal Movement and LF, both allies in the March 14 camp.

Franjieh's name is being proposed as part of a greater settlement that would revitalize the political scene in Lebanon.

M.T.

D.A.