The visit of Ali Larijani, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, comes amid attempts led by the United States to end Israel’s 13-month Gaza war that broadened in September into southern and eastern Lebanon as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Since October 2023, more than 3,300 people have been killed and more than 14,400 wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon, Lebanon’s Health Ministry says.

Lebanese media reported that the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon has handed over to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri a draft of a proposed deal to end the Israeli escalation.

A Lebanese official confirmed that the U.S. ambassador to Beirut, Lisa Johnson, visited Berri but refused to say whether a draft was handed over. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media about the ongoing talks. The U.S. Embassy refused to either confirm or deny the reports.

Larijani flew in Friday from neighboring Syria where he held similar talks a day earlier with President Bashar Assad. Syria’s state news agency said Assad and Larijani discussed the “ongoing aggression on Palestine and Lebanon and the necessity of stopping it.”

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.