Connelly Tells Miqati U.S. Confident NAM Members Won't Condone Iran Support for Assad

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly on Monday met Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail and discussed with him “the political and security situation in Lebanon and regional events,” the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.

“The Ambassador welcomed the release of kidnapped Lebanese Hussein Ali Omar over the weekend. She condemned the kidnapping of any individuals based on nationality, sect, ethnicity or for criminal gain and called for their immediate release,” said the statement.

Connelly reiterated the United States’ “concern with the recent violence in Tripoli and offered the United States’ sincere condolences for those killed and injured.”

She also expressed the United States’ “appreciation for the efforts of the Lebanese government as well as the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Internal Security Forces to work together to maintain calm in Lebanon.”

The ambassador reiterated Washington’s call that “the Assad regime respect the sovereignty, independence, and stability of Lebanon,” urging all parties to exercise restraint and respect for Lebanon’s stability and security.

Turning to the events in the region, Connelly “shared U.S. concerns over Iran’s Presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and intentions for the NAM conference this week.”

“Iran’s continuing uncritical support for the Assad regime prevents it from effectively facilitating a political solution to the crisis in Syria,” Connelly told Miqati.

She relayed “the U.S. Government’s confidence that NAM members will not be led by Iran into taking actions that appear to condone Iran’s support for the Assad regime and its disregard of its obligations regarding the prevention of nuclear proliferation.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Friday that Tehran will submit during the summit a proposal for ending the conflict in Syria.

"This proposal is an acceptable and rational one, and includes all parties, and opposing it will be very difficult," said Salehi.

Iran is at the center of a showdown with the international community over its nuclear drive and has been accused of providing arms to Syria's President Bashar Assad. It has also been condemned for inflammatory remarks by its leaders calling Israel a "cancerous tumor."

The NAM, a Cold War grouping founded in 1961, has 120 members representing most of the developing world and which see themselves as independent of Washington and Moscow influence.

Although the organization had increasingly been seen as an anachronism in the past couple of decades, Iran is seeking to revive it as a counterweight to perceived domineering by permanent U.N. Security Council members Britain, France, China, Russia and -- especially -- the United States.