Iran’s top security chief, Ali Larijani, has vowed in Lebanon on Wednesday that his government would continue to provide support, after the Lebanese government ordered the army to devise a plan to disarm Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Ali Larijani’s trip to Lebanon comes after Iran expressed opposition to a government plan to disarm Hezbollah, which, before a war with Israel last year, was believed to be better armed than the Lebanese military.

Larijani, the head of the National Security Council, told reporters after landing in Beirut that; “If… the Lebanese people are suffering, we in Iran will also feel this pain and we will stand by the dear people of Lebanon in all circumstances.”

Meanwhile, dozens of Hezbollah supporters gathered along the airport road to welcome Larijani, just as he briefly stepped out of his car to greet them as they chanted slogans of support.

Iran seems to have suffered a series of blows in its long-running rivalry with Israel, including during 12 days of open war between the two countries in June.

Hezbollah’s grip on power has slipped since a war with Israel ended in a November 2024 ceasefire, and the new Lebanese government, backed by the United States, has moved to restrain it further.

The ouster in December of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, which long served as a conduit for weapons deliveries between Iran and Hezbollah, cut off the supply route to Lebanon.

Iran has declared its firm opposition to the Lebanese government’s bid to disarm Hezbollah, while the movement itself has slammed the decision as a “grave sin”.