In the first visit of a high-ranking Saudi official to Lebanon in about 15 years, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan arrived in Beirut on Thursday.

The official Lebanese National News Agency reported, “The arrival of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, at Rafik Hariri International Airport,” where he was received by his Lebanese counterpart, Abdullah Bou Habib.

The Saudi Al-Ekhbariya channel published footage of Prince Faisal bin Farhan’s arrival at Rafic Hariri International Airport.

He is scheduled to meet at a later time with the new President of the Republic, Joseph Aoun.

Aoun and Salam took office this month, marking the beginning of a new phase in a country mired in a financial crisis since 2019 and now facing a multi-billion-dollar reconstruction bill.

Prince Faisal said in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last Tuesday that Saudi Arabia considers the election of a Lebanese president after a gap of more than two years to be a very positive thing, and he expressed his hope that a new Lebanese government will be formed “in the not-so-distant future.”

He added during the Economic Forum in Davos, "We need to see real action, and to see real reform we will need to see a commitment to Lebanon that looks to the future and not to the past, so that we can raise the level of our commitment."

While Aoun said shortly after his election that Saudi Arabia would be his first foreign destination, after he received an invitation to visit it during a phone call made to him by the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, according to what the Lebanese presidency announced.