Iran will back any decision taken by Lebanon in talks to secure a ceasefire with Israel, a senior Iranian official said on Friday, signalling Tehran wants to see an end to a conflict that has dealt heavy blows to its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.
Ali Larijani, an advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, spoke during a visit to Beirut as Israel kept up its intensified bombardment of Hezbollah-controlled areas of the Lebanese capital.
Israel has this week stepped up airstrikes against the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs – an escalation that has coincided with indications of movement in U.S.-led diplomatic contacts towards ending the conflict.
The U.S. ambassador to Lebanon submitted a draft truce proposal on Thursday to Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who is endorsed by Hezbollah to negotiate, two senior Lebanese political sources told Reuters.
The draft was Washington’s first written proposal to halt fighting between its ally Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in at least several weeks, the sources said. The sources did not provide details about the contents of the proposal.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Berri, Larijani said Berri had provided him with “good clarifications”.
“We are not looking to sabotage anything,” Larijani said, responding to a reporter who asked whether he had come to Beirut to wreck the American draft.
