Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who had arrived Thursday in Beirut, met Friday with Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.

On Thursday, upon his arrival to Beirut's airport, Abdollahian said he will urge the Lebanese officials for a swift election of a president, adding that the Lebanese must choose their president themselves.

MP Sethrida Geagea of the Lebanese Forces bloc on Friday said that Speaker Nabih Berri is “insisting that he will not call for a presidential election session unless there is a prior agreement.”

“This stance in itself is a major constitutional violation, seeing as the constitution does not stipulate consensus but rather election,” Geagea said.

Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday called on the heads of parliamentary blocs and political parties to participate in “dialogue in parliament for seven days at most in September” before going to “open-ended sessions to elect a president.”

“The presidential vote cannot take place through imposing a candidate or paralyzing state institutions. Is it a crime to call for consensus and dialogue?” Berri added, in a speech marking the 45th anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr.

UNIFIL term extended, resolution mentions undeclared patrols

The U.N. Security Council approved a resolution Thursday demanding that Lebanon guarantee freedom of movement for the UNIFIL peacekeeping force, "including by allowing announced and unannounced patrols."

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein on Thursday visited south Lebanon where met with UNIFIL chief Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz and toured the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel, LBCI television said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian arrived Thursday in Beirut after a short visit to Damascus.

"The Lebanese must choose a president and we will urge the Lebanese officials for a swift election," Abdollahian stated from Beirut's airport upon his arrival.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, who had recently started a dialogue with Hezbollah, has called for political balance, as he said that "no one would accept that Hezbollah control Lebanon."

In an interview published Thursday in Kuwaiti al-Jarida newspaper, Bassil stressed the need to mend ties with the Arab world. "This alone would be enough to restore political balance," he said.

UNRWA said Wednesday that it is seeking US$ 15.5 million for its multi-sectoral emergency response following the armed clashes that took place in the Ain el-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon between July 29 and August 3.

Four days of violence among Palestinian armed groups in the camp left 13 people killed and over 60 injured. Thousands of civilians were forced to flee their homes that were damaged or destroyed. All eight UNRWA schools, providing education for 5,900 children, have been occupied by armed militants and severely damaged. Materials have been looted and the two school compounds transformed into bases for the militants themselves.

Senior Advisor to President Joe Biden Amos Hochstein arrived Wednesday in Lebanon on a two-day visit to follow-up on the October 2022 maritime boundary agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

Before meeting Speaker Nabih Berri and later caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Hochstein had a quick coffee & a Lebanese manoushe with U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea.

An ongoing dialogue between Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement is progressing positively, the FPM chief said.

Jebran Bassil revealed, in an interview published Tuesday in al-Modon news portal, that Hezbollah's feedback on a reform paper proposed by the FPM was "positive", which paved the way for completing the discussions.