Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Monday that the Middle East has grown weary of the ongoing polarization between the United States and Iran, expressing hope that Lebanon’s renewed commitment to the Arab world will encourage Arab nations to reengage with Beirut.

“The region is tired of the U.S.-Iran rivalry,” Salam told Sky News Arabia in an interview. “We hope that the Arabs will return to Lebanon, just as Lebanon has returned to them.”

Salam said his government is working “day and night” to rebuild trust with Lebanon’s traditional allies, particularly Arab states and international partners, many of whom had distanced themselves from the country amid years of political paralysis and economic collapse.

“Our Arab brothers and our friends around the world had lost confidence in Lebanon,” he said. “But with their support, we will be in a stronger position to succeed.”

The prime minister said Lebanon is seeking to become an attractive destination for high-quality Arab investment and is currently working to create the necessary conditions to resume exports to Saudi Arabia, which were suspended in 2021 over a diplomatic rift.

“Lebanon will become a land that draws Arab investments,” Salam said, without providing a timeline. “We are working on the conditions to restore exports to Saudi Arabia.”

He also acknowledged the need for deeper political reform, saying Lebanon must break free from a system that has fueled instability for decades.

“We hope to change the rules of the political game in Lebanon,” he said. “The current political process has led to wars. There have been several attempts to reform the system, but they have failed.”

Salam criticized the implementation of the 1989 Taif Agreement, which ended Lebanon’s civil war and laid the foundation for its current power-sharing structure, saying it had been applied “selectively” and ineffectively.

“Selective implementation of the Taif Accord has ruined the political process in the country,” he said. “We need to complete what has not yet been implemented.”

He pointed specifically to provisions related to administrative decentralization and judicial independence, which remain unfulfilled three decades later.

“There are several loopholes in the Taif Agreement that must be addressed,” he added.

The prime minister said he has urged all political factions in Lebanon to stop interfering in judicial affairs, vowing to support the full independence of the judiciary.

“I have called on all politicians in Lebanon to take their hands off the judiciary,” Salam said.

Salam pledged that his government would not back down in the fight against corruption, describing it as a necessary, if difficult, battle.

“Fighting corruption is not easy, but it is essential,” he said. “We will not stay silent on any form of corruption or waste of public funds.”

He also claimed that his government had achieved more in a short period than previous governments had accomplished in a decade.

“This government has done in one year what others failed to do in ten,” he said.

On the controversial issue of non-state weapons, Salam reiterated that all arms must fall under the exclusive authority of the Lebanese state.

“We will not remain silent about the presence of weapons outside the control of the state,” he said, signaling a firm stance against Hezbollah and other armed factions.

Salam asserted that “the era of exporting Iran’s revolution is over,” and said he believed the majority of Lebanese citizens were aligned with his state-building agenda.

“My strength comes from regaining the people’s trust in the state,” he said. “Our priority is gaining the people’s trust, not pleasing the entourage. I’m aware of entrenched interests, and we are confronting them.”

He added that Lebanon was now on “a new path,” though he cautioned that its final destination remained uncertain.

“We are trying to put the country on a new track,” he said. “I cannot predict where we will end up, but we are definitely on a different road.”

Addressing chants that accused him of being a Zionist during a recent event, Salam said such accusations were politically motivated and did not deter him.

“Treason accusations have become just another political tool in Lebanon,” he said. “I wasn’t provoked by the chants accusing me of being a Zionist.”

“It saddens me that a part of Lebanon remains under occupation. We are seekers of peace, but a peace that is just and lasting.”

Salam also voiced concern over the presence of weapons in Palestinian refugee camps across Lebanon, warning they could trigger internal Palestinian conflict.

“The danger of weapons in the camps is that they could lead to Palestinian infighting,” he said. “Palestine’s strength today comes not from arms, but from international recognition and diplomacy.”

Finally, Salam addressed Lebanon’s growing reputation as a hub for narcotics trafficking, saying the government is determined to reverse that image.

“Lebanon, which once exported books and knowledge, has today become known for exporting drugs,” he said. “Lebanon will not be a passageway for smuggling drugs to any country.