Report: No Saudi-Iranian Agreement on President

Iran and Saudi Arabia have not discussed the Lebanese file or the latest settlement that could bring MP Suleiman Franjieh to the post of presidency, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday.

“There is no Saudi-Iranian agreement on the presidential file in Lebanon. The meeting between Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and Saudi Arabia's Adel al-Jubeir did not last for more than 14 minutes and the talks focused on the Yemeni file without touching on the Lebanese one,” unnamed sources told the daily.

The two foreign ministers met last month on the sidelines of the Vienna peace talks on Syria, reports said speculating that the talks may have highlighted the Lebanese file.

Meanwhile, sources close to Hizbullah confirmed that the party persists to nominate Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun without detracting from its appreciation for the Marada leader Franjieh.

On the other hand, sources close to the Lebanese Forces said that the settlement was not “frozen” mainly because of Hizbullah's stances, but because of Riyadh's positions that refused to go against the stances of the Christians, added the daily.

They revealed that consultations are ongoing with al-Mustaqbal movement, and that the international attention focuses on ending the presidential vacuum not on a preference to nominate one candidate over the other.

The reports come amid a flurry of political talks in the country that followed a Paris meeting between Franjieh and al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri. The meeting sparked intense speculation that the two leaders agreed to the nomination of the Marada chief for the presidency.

The possible nomination of Franjieh faces voices of dissent among the main Christian parties including the Kataeb Party, LF, and Change and Reform bloc.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of President Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014.

D.A.

M.T.