Rubio says US dealing with Lebanon's 'sovereign elected government'

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that Washington will negotiate and deal with Lebanon directly, and that the U.S.-brokered Lebanon-Israel negotiations are separate from the deal with Iran.

“Well, that process is separate. It's separate because Lebanon is a sovereign country. It has a government, and when it comes to Lebanon … we're going to negotiate and deal directly with the Lebanese government,” Rubio told reporters after landing in Abu Dhabi.

He said the “Iranian issue with regards to Lebanon” is “the support and sponsorship of Hezbollah,” which will be discussed “as part of our conversations with the Iranians.”

“But as far as the future of Lebanon, the future of Lebanon belongs to the Lebanese people through their sovereign elected government, and that's who we're going to be working with,” he added.