Iran welcomes enhanced ties with Saudi Arabia, Lebanon

A senior Iranian lawmaker says the Islamic Republic welcomes the expansion of ties with regional countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran attaches special significance to strengthening security and stability in the region, [including] in Lebanon,” Chairman of National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Iran's Parliament (Majlis) Alaeddin Boroujerdi told reporters after a meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil in Beirut on Friday.

He added that the ongoing political developments in the region can help restore security, peace and stability to Lebanon.

Boroujerdi is in Beirut to participate in the commemoration ceremony of six Hezbollah members and a general of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) who lost their lives in an Israeli airstrike on Syria’s Golan Heights on January 18.

The Iranian legislator said he had held “constructive and positive” talks with the Lebanese foreign minister on the latest developments in the region and ways to improve Tehran-Beirut relations, particularly in trade and economic sectors.

On January 18, an Israeli military helicopter fired two missiles into Amal Farms in the strategic southwestern Syrian city of Quneitra, close to the line separating the Syrian part of the Golan Heights from the Israeli-occupied sector.

Six Hezbollah members as well as the IRGC general, Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, lost their lives in the Israeli assault.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah killed two Israeli soldiers in a retaliatory attack on an Israeli convoy in northern occupied territories.