Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told visiting Iranian security chief Ali Larijani on Wednesday that no group in Lebanon is permitted to bear arms outside state control and that Beirut rejects any foreign interference. The comments reaffirm the cabinet’s decision last week to adopt a U.S.-supported roadmap that would see the army draw up a plan to dismantle all non-state armed groups, including the Iran-backed Hezbollah, by the end of the year. Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran respects Lebanese sovereignty but urged officials to “value the resistance,” a reference to Hezbollah. He added that any decision taken by the Lebanese government "in consultation with the resistance" would be respected by Iran and reiterated that Tehran will continue to stand by Lebanon if asked for help. The tense exchange follows a series of warnings from Tehran. On 9 August, Ali Akbar Velayati, senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, dismissed plans to disarm Hezbollah as an "unachievable dream," asking who would defend Lebanese lives and property if the group relinquished its weapons. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji have both criticised Iranian statements as a violation of Lebanese sovereignty. The Lebanese army is expected to submit by year-end a detailed strategy to establish exclusive control over weapons nationwide, a step viewed as crucial to consolidating state authority after last year’s war with Israel. Larijani’s Beirut stop, which follows a visit to Baghdad to negotiate a bilateral security accord with Iraq, underscores rising diplomatic friction as Lebanon balances its long-standing ties with Iran against domestic and international pressure to curtail the influence of Iranian-aligned militias.