Qassem meets Larijani, thanks Iran for 'continuous support'

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has met with Ali Larijani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Lebanon, who began a visit to Lebanon on Wednesday, Hezbollah said in a statement.

The meeting was held in the presence of the visiting Iranian delegation and Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani, the party added.

During the meeting, Qassem thanked Iran for “its continuous support for Lebanon and its resistance against the Israeli enemy, as well as its support for Lebanon’s unity, sovereignty and independence, emphasizing upon the brotherly ties between the Lebanese and Iranian peoples,” Hezbollah said.

Larijani had met Wednesday with President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

Aoun and Salam firmly rejected any efforts at foreign interference by Iran or other countries, with the prime minister saying Beirut would "tolerate neither tutelage nor diktat" after Tehran voiced opposition to plans to disarm Hezbollah.

The uncharacteristically blunt remarks hinted at a changed balance of power in a country where Iran has long wielded substantial influence by funding and arming Hezbollah.

The visit by Larijani comes after the Lebanese government ordered the army to devise plans to disarm the Tehran-backed militant group by the end of the year.

Last week, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader had said the Islamic republic was "certainly opposed" to the disarmament plan.

Hezbollah has been a key part of Tehran's so-called axis of resistance against Israel, but Iran and its allies have suffered a series of blows.

Hezbollah experienced devastating losses, including the death of its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, over more than a year of hostilities with Israel that ended with a November 2024 ceasefire.

A month later, longtime Syrian ruler and Tehran ally Bashar al-Assad was ousted, depriving Hezbollah of its main conduit for weapons and supplies from Iran.

And finally, Israel went to war with Iran itself in June, with the United States stepping in briefly to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities.

Ever since last year's war, Hezbollah's firm grip on Lebanese politics has been slipping.

Hezbollah has slammed the government's new disarmament push as a "grave sin", while Tehran has also declared its opposition.

But in Beirut, Larijani said that no foreign power should give orders to Lebanon, adding that it was not Iran but the United States that was intervening.

Lebanon's cabinet recently considered a U.S. proposal that included a timetable for Hezbollah's disarmament, with Washington pressing Beirut to take action.

"Any decision that the Lebanese government makes in consultation with the resistance is respected by us," Larijani said.