U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that Lebanon's future depends on the country's legitimate government becoming the sole authority over its territory and weapons, arguing that Hezbollah's continued military role remains the biggest obstacle to lasting peace and prosperity.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington, Rubio described the talks as "very positive" and expressed strong support for Aoun's efforts to strengthen state authority ahead of the Lebanese leader's scheduled meeting with President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

"I think the future of Lebanon—the best thing that could happen to Lebanon—is to have a government, a legitimate government, his government, that controls the country," Rubio said.

"The biggest problem Lebanon has is that you have a political movement that also has an armed militia that is not just well armed and trained and equipped and financed by Iran, but they use that to conduct terrorism, particularly against northern Israel. And as long as that problem exists, Lebanon will never fully be at peace."

Rubio said the path toward stability was not simply defeating Hezbollah militarily but replacing the group's role with stronger state institutions led by the Lebanese government.

"You defeat and replace Hezbollah with a government that is strong enough to be the sole force of arms in the country, basically with the security of Lebanon in the hands of the Lebanese Armed Forces, and a government that's able to provide prosperity for its citizens," he said.

He added that his discussions with Aoun focused not only on security but also on rebuilding Lebanon's economy and attracting international investment.

"This is not just about military stuff," Rubio said. "This is about how can we attract more U.S. and international investment into Lebanon."

He also revealed that Washington and Beirut would begin exploring the possibility of restoring direct commercial flights between the United States and Lebanon.

"This is about things like how can we restart direct flights between the United States and Lebanon... So we're going to start a process with them and see if that's possible and when that can be done," he said.

Rubio said he expected Aoun's meeting with Trump on Tuesday to produce positive results and expressed confidence that the Lebanese president would return home with tangible achievements.

"We had a good meeting, and I think he'll leave on Tuesday. He'll have a very positive meeting with President Trump," Rubio said.

"I think President Aoun will be able to return to Lebanon and say to the people of Lebanon that he is the one that's getting positive results for the people—all Lebanese, including Christians, Sunni, and Shia, and Bedouin and Druze—all the people of a very diverse country—not Hezbollah, not Iran."

"He is the legitimate government, he is who we're going to work with, and that government is the government that should be in charge of that country," Rubio added.

Earlier Sunday, the State Department said Rubio had commended the Lebanese government under Aoun's leadership "for their determined effort to reclaim Lebanon's sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, and move towards peace."

The department also reaffirmed Washington's commitment to supporting the implementation of the U.S.-brokered framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel and to backing the Lebanese government's efforts to achieve peace, economic recovery and a better future for the Lebanese people.

Rubio also sharply criticized Iran, accusing its leadership of prioritizing support for armed groups across the Middle East over the welfare of its own citizens.

"Iran is a rich country," he said. "One of the reasons why Iran is in shambles is because every penny that this regime gets, be it in sanctions relief or through the oil they're able to get out, they invest it in Hezbollah, they invest it in Hamas."

He said Tehran had spent billions of dollars supporting militias in Iraq, Hezbollah and Hamas instead of investing in domestic development.

"They should be spending billions of dollars supporting the people of Iran. They should be spending on things like building their country. But instead they use it to sponsor terrorism," Rubio said.

Rubio's remarks came after his meeting with Aoun, who is visiting Washington for talks with senior U.S. officials before his White House meeting with Trump.