Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri met with visiting Iranian National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani today, and it was something of an awkward exchange, leading to Aoun warning Larijani that no group within Lebanon is allowed to bear arms anymore, nor to rely on foreign backing.
The claims appear to be based on the plan to eventually disarm Hezbollah, a Shi’ite group in Lebanon which has historically received backing from Iran. Hezbollah has said they have no intention of being disarmed, and it’s not at all clear that Lebanon would be able to impose disarmament on the group, which is generally considered larger and better equipped than the Lebanese military.
The claim that no group is allowed to rely on foreign backing appears totally new, and there’s little sign this was based on any legal standard within Lebanon, a nation with a large diaspora and with multiple active organizations within that rely in no small part on foreign backing.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, in this handout image released on August 13, 2025. Lebanese Presidency Press Office/Handout via REUTERS
© Thomson Reuters
Larijani fired back insisting Iran was not meddling in Lebanese affairs and that they seek cooperation in the region, and said Iran would respect any decisions Lebanon makes “in consultation with the resistance.” No doubt this is a reference to the Hezbollah disarmament order, which came despite explicit opposition from Hezbollah and other factions, and amid protests opposing the idea in Beirut.
Neither side is exactly squaring up for a big fight here, but they diplomatic sniping suggests Iran-Lebanese relations, despite some media reports to the contrary, are becoming rather strained.
Larijani, notably, praised Parliament Speaker Berri as a “friend of Iran and a key figure in Lebanon’s political scene.” Berri is the leader of the Shi’ite Amal Movement, and has been parliament speaker since 1992. His group very publicly opposed the disarmament order, and Amal representatives walked out of the first cabinet meeting on the topic along with the Hezbollah contingent.
In the wake of the 2024 Israeli invasion, which ended with a mostly not-respected ceasefire and growing US demands for Lebanon to disarm everybody in the country and placate Israel as a precondition for post-war reconstruction, some within Lebanon seem to be trying to satisfy the US with disarmament orders and statements criticizing Iran. It seems, however, that this may also be creating rifts within the Lebanese polity itself and even bigger rifts with regional partners.
