Published: 16:18, January 13, 2025 | Updated: 16:26, January 13, 2025
UAE to reopen embassy in Lebanon after more than three years
By Reuters
This combo picture was created on Jan 12, 2025, shows the United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (right) addressing the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, a business event to attract investments to the Gujarat state, in Gandhinagar, India, Jan 10, 2024, and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reviews the honor guard upon his arrival at the Lebanese Parliament to be sworn in as a new president, in Beirut, Lebanon, Jan 9, 2025. (PHOTO / AP) 

DUBAI / BEIRUT - A high-level Emirati delegation is in Lebanon to make arrangements for the reopening of the UAE's embassy in Beirut after more than three years, state news agency WAM reported on Monday.

The arrival of the delegation on Sunday came a day after UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and newly elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun agreed to take the necessary steps to reopen the embassy.

ALSO READ: UAE announces plans to reopen embassy in Lebanon

The UAE withdrew its diplomats from Lebanon and closed the embassy in October 2021, aligning with Saudi Arabia after Lebanon's then-information minister criticized the Saudi-led coalition's involvement in Yemen.

READ MORE: Saudi Arabia hosts Arab-international meeting on Syria

The Saudi foreign minister at the time pointed to Hezbollah's dominance over Lebanese politics but most of the group's top leadership has since been killed and many of its strongholds across Lebanon lie in ruins after a more than a year-long war with Israel.

READ MORE: Joseph Aoun elected Lebanon's president

President Aoun has said that countries including the UAE and Saudi Arabia are open to reestablishing diplomatic ties, Lebanon's Deputy parliament speaker Elias Bou Saab said in a televised speech.

"The UAE will reopen its embassy very soon...thus there is hope for us to start a new page in Lebanon," Bou Saab said.