Lebanese Premier Mikati summons Iranian diplomat over interference

In an unusual move, Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati sharply criticized Iran on Friday for attempting to interfere in his country's affairs.

He instructed Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib to summon the Iranian deputy ambassador, according to a report by the Lebanese state news agency NNA.

He was referring to a statement by Iranian House Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who had offered negotiations between Tehran and Paris regarding the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which was passed to end the previous Lebanon war in 2006.

The resolution stipulated that both Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah should withdraw from an area of southern Lebanon between the Litani River and the Israeli border. It also called for Hezbollah and others to disarm, and set up the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), a peacekeeping mission to patrol the area.

"We are surprised by this stance, which represents an open interference in Lebanese affairs and an attempt to establish an unacceptable guardianship over Lebanon...," Mikati reportedly said.

The government in Beirut is working with all friends of Lebanon, including France, to push Israel toward a ceasefire, he said.

“The subject of negotiations to implement international Resolution 1701 is undertaken by the Lebanese state, and everyone is required to support it in this direction, not to seek to impose new mandates that are rejected by all national and sovereign considerations,” Mikati said.

For many years, Iran has exerted significant influence on Lebanon's politics and public life through Hezbollah, which has established a state within a state.