Zarif Discusses Local, Regional Developments with Nasrallah

Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has held talks with Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA did not say whether the meeting was held overnight Monday or on Tuesday morning.

Zarif was accompanied by Mohammad Irani, head of the Middle East and North Africa dept. at Iran's foreign ministry, and Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Fathali, and the meeting was held in the presence of a number of senior Hizbullah officials, the agency added.

Talks tackled “the latest political events and developments in Lebanon and the region,” it said.

Zarif had arrived in Lebanon on Monday on an official visit aimed at congratulating President Michel Aoun on his election and holding talks with senior Lebanese leaders.

The visit carries political significance seeing as Zarif is among the first foreign officials to visit Lebanon after Aoun's election, knowing that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was among the first leaders who congratulated Aoun on his election.

Aoun, who is allied to Iran-backed Hizbullah, was elected last week as Lebanon's 13th president, which ended around two and a half years of presidential and political vacuum.

Zarif described Monday the election of a new president as a “victory for all Lebanese.” Some Iranian officials have described Aoun's election as a victory for Hizbullah and the so-called “axis of resistance.”