“Therefore this regime’s serious concern about the trend of nuclear negotiations [between Iran and six major world powers] is obvious,” Zarif said in a meeting with Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut on Monday.

The Iranian minister said that Berri plays a “valuable” role in strengthening convergence and unity among different political and religious groups in Lebanon.

Zarif extended Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani’s invitation to his Lebanese counterpart to attend the 9th meeting of the parliament speakers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which is slated to be held in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on February 18-19.

He further said that both Iran and Lebanon are concerned about the fate of Imam Moussa Sadr, who went missing in Libya more than three decades ago.

Iran will proceed with efforts to determine the fate of Imam Moussa Sadr and his companions, the minister stated.

Imam Musa Sadr and his two companions, Mohammed Yaqoub and Abbas Badreddin, were kidnapped in August 1978 during an official visit to the Libyan capital, Tripoli. They were scheduled to meet with officials from the government of slain Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The Lebanese Shia cleric, who is of Iranian descent, is widely believed to have been abducted on the orders of former Libyan officials.

Berri, for his part, expressed his views on the latest developments in Syria and cooperation among important Muslim countries.

He said Iran plays a leading role in regional issues.

The top Iranian diplomat arrived in Lebanon late on Sunday at the head of a political and parliamentary delegation at the first leg of a three-nation tour of the Middle East.

Zarif’s visits to Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon are in line with Iran’s active regional diplomacy and come on the heels of the top diplomat’s previous regional tours which took him to Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar.

RA/NJF