Syria's foreign minister, Asaad al-Shibani , arrived in Beirut on Thursday to meet Lebanese government leaders, in his first visit there since US President Donald Trump raised the possibility of Syrian forces combating Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, as well as other Syrian officials, have routinely dismissed any notion that Syria will militarily intervene in Lebanon.
Shibani had already met with the Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is a close ally of Hezbollah .
"Our presence today in Lebanon is a message of love and cooperation with all Lebanese components and institutions," al-Shibani said after the initial meetings. "Our meeting today with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was excellent, and is in the interest of Syrian-Lebanese relations."
In response to a question about resuming meetings with Hezbollah after his meeting with Speaker Berri, he said: “Our meetings today are scheduled with various Lebanese forces and parties, and today there is no meeting with Hezbollah, but that may happen in the future if there is an interest that is in the interest of both parties.”
"Our discussions today focus on how to develop relations between Syria and Lebanon. We have sat with various Lebanese parties, and our visit today comes within the framework of supporting Lebanon," he noted.
According to sources who spoke with The New Arab, Al-Shaibani carries a message from Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, stressing support for Lebanese state institutions, guarantees of no Syrian intentions for military intervention in Lebanon, and an emphasis on the necessity of strengthening bilateral relations politically and economically, security cooperation to control borders, and mutual respect for the sovereignty of the two countries. Al-Shaiban i's visit to Beirut is important, not only because of the diversity of the expected meetings, which could constitute the beginning of charting a new path for broad political involvement in Lebanese affairs, but also because it comes after the repeated statements of US President Donald Trump, in which he has been pressuring Syria to intervene in Lebanon to confront Hezbollah. Syria's new government under al-Sharaa has emerged as a US ally since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's regime in late 2024, and has largely stayed out of the regional war between the US and Israel and Iran.
Trump claimed last month he had spoken to Sharaa about combating Hezbollah, after criticising Israel—which is at war with the group—for killing too many civilians in Lebanon and not getting the job done. "I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah, because to be honest with you, I think they do a better job of doing it," Trump said.
Various reports have noted US pressures on Syria to consider sending forces into eastern Lebanon to help disarm Hezbollah, but Damascus rebuffed such action for fear of being sucked into the regional war, inflaming sectarian tensions in Syria and Lebanon, and undermining reconstruction efforts within Syria after 14 years of a devastating civil war.
Responding to Trump's comments, Sharaa said that "the rumours circulating about Syria entering Lebanon are completely unfounded", according to Syrian state media.
The former rebels and commanders who now run Syria fought against Hezbollah for years while it deployed to Syria to support former President Bashar al-Assad. Syria long dominated Lebanon under the Assad family, sending in forces in 1976 during the 1975-90 civil war on the side of right-wing forces against Palestinian and left-wing factions. Syria's military remained and influenced Lebanon's post-war politics until its withdrawal in 2005.