Lebanon’s prime minister canceled a planned upcoming trip to Washington amid threats from Iran and Israeli strikes that continue to batter his country.
“In light of the current internal circumstances … I have decided to postpone my trip to the United Nations and the United States,” Prime Minister Nawaf Salam posted on X Saturday.
Salam was expected to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the first bilateral visit from a senior Lebanese official to the US since President Trump returned to office, Axios reported.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam canceled an upcoming trip to the US. WAEL HAMZEH/EPA/Shutterstock His announcement comes after Tehran warned Lebanon of “security risks” should they sideline Hezbollah in their upcoming direct talks with Israel, which are set to be held in Washington.
“Mr. Nawaf Salam must know that ignoring the unparalleled role of the resistance and the heroic Hezbollah will expose Lebanon to irreparable security risks,” an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said, according to the Times of Israel.
Pro-Hezbollah protesters demonstrated in Beirut Saturday, burning portraits of Salam and denouncing him as a “Zionist” while carrying the terrorist group’s flag.
Israel has continued to pound Hezbollah inside Lebanon despite Iran’s insistence that a cease-fire between the terrorist group and the Jewish state be reached as a necessary precondition for peace talks with the US.
At least 14 were killed in Israeli strikes across Lebanon Friday, with the overall death toll climbing to 1,950, according to Lebanese officials.
Separate from Salam’s canceled visit, ambassadors from Lebanon and Israel are set to meet in Washington Tuesday to discuss a peace deal between the two countries, though Jewish state has ruled out any cease-fire with Hezbollah as part of the talks.
It is unclear if Salam’s announcement will have any impact on those fragile talks.
He was slated to meet with Secretary of State Rubio. REUTERS Israeli officials are set to deliver a firm line to their Lebanese counterparts at the talks, saying that if Lebanon doesn’t disarm Hezbollah in Beirut and south of the Litani river, the Israel Defense Forces would continue its bombing campaign on the region, Israeli outlet Kann News reported.
The US. however, has pushed Israel to scale back the intensity of its strikes in Lebanon, and Vice President JD Vance previously told reporters that the Israelis agreed to “check themselves” in their strikes against Hezbollah
