A rare confrontation between Lebanon and Iran erupted on Friday after Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf suggested Tehran was willing to negotiate the implementation of UN Resolution 1701, the 2006 agreement that ended the Second Lebanon War and barred Hezbollah from operating south of the Litani River.
Ghalibaf’s comments, made during an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, were seen in Beirut as a violation of Lebanese sovereignty.
In the interview, Ghalibaf also remarked that France could mediate between Hezbollah and Israel, though he dismissed Israel as "nothing more than the Zionist regime, an armed wing of the U.S." Despite this, he noted, "We see a faint light at the end of the tunnel, suggesting Iran’s willingness to negotiate with France on specific conditions for implementing Resolution 1701."
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the remarks and ordered the summoning of the Iranian embassy’s chargé d'affaires, as the ambassador was unavailable due to injuries from a recent attack in Beirut.
