Larijani: US Using STL as Tool to Destabilize New Lebanese Government

Iranian Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani says the US uses Washington-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) as a tool to destabilize the new Lebanese government.

"The US is furious about the formation of a new government in Lebanon so it is struggling to sabotage plans of the government and destabilize the country," Larijani said in a press briefing in the Azeri capital of Baku on Saturday, he was reported as saying by IRNA.

The senior Iranian official pointed out that the US has sent its special envoy to Lebanon to provoke the Lebanese about the STL and thus turn the situation to its own interests.

Larijani went on to say that the STL probing the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri was another instance that the US used international bodies as a tool to shield its interests.

Larijani further explained that the US-backed STL ruling was politically-motivated and aimed to pile pressure on the new Lebanese government.