[caption id="attachment_58128" align="alignright" width="250"] Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri[/caption]

BEIRUT: Lebanon would stand to gain from a nuclear deal between Iran and the United States, Speaker Nabih Berri said Wednesday, according to visitors.

“An American-Iranian nuclear agreement, if reached, would have important repercussion on the region,” Berri told officials visiting his Beirut residence Wednesday.

“One of the [outcomes] would be the reopening of channels between Tehran and Riyadh, which would have positive results on Lebanon.”

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Wednesday played down the chances of reaching a speedy agreement during nuclear talks under way this week in the Swiss city of Lausanne.

With regards to an upcoming legislative session that “may take place at the beginning of April,” Berri said that Parliament’s secretariat is set to convene on March 24 to place the agenda for the meeting.

Berri also said that he was waiting for the Cabinet to refer the annual budget to Parliament for review, noting that Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil had issued the budget to the Cabinet within the constitutional deadline.

By The Daily Star