THE Lebanon announced that he hopes to develop better neighborly relations with Syriain the first official message from Beirut to the new authorities in Damascus.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib conveyed this message to his Syrian counterpart, Assad Hassan al-Shibani, in a telephone conversation they had, the ministry said in a post on the X platform.

The Lebanese, pro-Iranian organization Hezbollah has played a major role in the Syrian civil war, supporting the president Bashar al-Assadbut its fighters have returned to Lebanon in recent months due to the war with Israel. This folding weakened the forces of the Syrian regime.

Under Assad, Hezbollah used Syria to import in Lebanon weapons and another equipment from Iranthrough Iraq and Syria. On December 6, rebels fighting Assad seized the border with Iraq and cut off this supply route. Two days later, the Islamists also captured the capital Damascus.

Iraqi delegation in Damascus

In the meantime, a Iraqi delegationin which the head of Iraq’s intelligence services also participated, met today with the new Syrian authorities and discussed the developments in that country, a representative of the Iraqi government said.

Nearly two weeks after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, the delegation, led by intelligence chief Hamid al-Shatri, “met with the new Syrian administration,” government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi told reporters. The two sides discussed the recent “developments” in Syria, as well as “the security and stability needs of the borders” of the two countries, he added.