Lebanese PM Salam in Washington: Senator Shaheen raises bipartisan legislation to disarm Hezbollah

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met in Washington with members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as part of efforts to strengthen the Lebanese state and detach the country from the influence of Hezbollah and Iran, as Al Jazeera reports.

At the meeting, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen raised the bipartisan legislation aimed at disarming Hezbollah, reforms in the banking sector and strengthening Lebanon’s state institutions.

The U.S. has consistently stressed its support for a Lebanon outside the influence of Hezbollah and Iran; a day earlier, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on Beirut to strike Iranian and Hezbollah financial networks.

The meeting comes as Lebanon is trying to implement the army’s plan for state control of weapons and the disarmament of Hezbollah, following the 2026 war that drew the country into the regional conflict.