Lebanon's Aoun upbeat on Hariri comments, says political deal still stands

BEIRUT – Lebanese President Michael Aoun gave a positive assessment of Saad al-Hariri's first comments since stepping down as prime minister, saying on Monday Hariri had hinted at the possibility of rescinding his resignation, visitors to Aoun said.

Aoun said Hariri's remarks in a televised interview on Sunday night showed that the political deal underpinning Lebanon's coalition government still stands, the visitors to the president said.

Saudi-allied Hariri said in the interview he would return to Lebanon within days and held out the possibility he could rescind his resignation if Iran-backed Hezbollah agreed to stay out of regional conflicts such as Yemen.