Report: Abdollahian urged allies in Lebanon to show restraint

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s visit to Lebanon was aimed at “informing his allies in Lebanon that Tehran is engaged in the international and Arab efforts to find a solution that would start by the halt of the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip,” a media report said.

Abdollahian called for “giving a chance for a settlement based on halting the Israeli aggression against Gaza, revealing that contacts between Tehran and Washington have not stopped but have rather been intensified to prevent an expansion of the war,” a prominent parliamentary source told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

“The Sultanate of Oman is sponsoring the talks, in which Switzerland’s ambassador to Iran and officials from the State of Qatar are sometimes participating,” the source said.

Abdollahian called for “restraint in order not to give a chance to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who is insisting on escalation in the South to send a message to the countries that are pressing him not to expand the war on the northern front,” Asharq al-Awsat said.

It also added that Abdollahian called for implementing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.