Boroujerdi Voices Support for Dialogue, Says Iran Not Backing Certain Candidate

Chairman of Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi on Tuesday voiced support for the national dialogue sessions that kicked off under the auspices of Speaker Nabih Berri, while noting that Iran does not have a favorite candidate in Lebanon's presidential race.

“We hope dialogue among the parties will lead to resolving all the pending issues in Lebanon,” said Boroujerdi after talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh.

“The issue of the Lebanese presidency is a domestic affair and it only requires inter-Lebanese consensus but we are ready to listen to any initiatives,” he added.

Asked whether Tehran was endorsing a certain presidential hopeful, the Iranian official said: “Of course not, of course not.”

Earlier in the day, Boroujerdi held talks with Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in the presence of Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammed Fathali, a Hizbullah statement said.

The conferees tackled “the latest political and security developments in the region,” the statement added.

Boroujerdi had held talks earlier on Tuesday with Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly supports internal national unity in Lebanon and anything that can boost security, calm and stability in this brotherly country,” he told reporters after the meeting.

“It also strongly supports the national dialogue that has started among the key and influential political movements and figures,” he added.

“We are fully ready to make any step that would lead to enhancing bilateral cooperation between the two brotherly countries,” Boroujerdi went on to say.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Iran-backed Hizbullah, MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.