Zarif Expected in Beirut Next Week

Iraqi Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, gestures as he speaks during a session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 24, 2014. Iran's foreign minister is calling for all "foreign elements" to leave Syria so its people can decide their future themselves. Speaking on a panel discussion about the Middle East at the World Economic Forum, Javad Zarif said Iran also wants to see an end to foreign support for opponents of President Bashar Assad's government and a recognition by all sides that there can be no military solution to the conflict. He said Tehran hoped for a negotiated settlement. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif is expected to arrive in Beirut next week for talks with senior Lebanese officials on the bilateral relations between the two countries, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said that the arrangements for the visit are currently being prepared. He said: “Due to the relationship between Iran and Lebanon, and the role that the country plays in the region’s security and stability, there are talks in progress between the two sides.”

He added: “Zarif will meet with a number of high-level officials in the Lebanese government and will discuss the relations between the two sides and ways of developing them in the political, economic and cultural levels, especially after the changes that Lebanon witnessed recently. And he will discuss the situation and the changes in the region and the events in Syria, in addition to the mechanisms of international cooperation between Iran and Lebanon.