For the first time since its damaging 12-day war with Israel and the United States in June, Iran has dispatched a senior envoy to neighboring countries in a bid to shore up its regional standing. Ali Larijani, the head of the Supreme National Security Council, visited Iraq earlier this week before flying to Beirut for meetings Wednesday with Lebanese leaders.
His visit comes amid delicate efforts to force Hezbollah, Iran’s most important regional ally, to disarm. The militia and political party had previously enjoyed a dominant position in Lebanon until last year, when it was crippled by an Israeli bombing campaign, followed by a ground invasion that drove the group out of southern Lebanon. Those operations, along with the more recent conflict in Iran itself, dealt a severe blow to Tehran’s ability to project power and influence in the region, as well as to its nuclear program.
The key question as the dust settled was whether a weakened Iran would emerge from the war defiant and combative, or whether it take a more cautious, conciliatory tack. While it is too soon to reach any definitive conclusions, Larijani’s trip offers some clues.