Lebanese President Joseph Aoun rejected Wednesday "any interference" in his country's internal affairs, including the carrying of weapons by any groups.

No group in Lebanon is permitted to bear arms or rely on foreign backing, its president told a visiting senior Iranian official on Wednesday after the cabinet approved the goals of a U.S.-backed roadmap to disarm the Iran-aligned Hezbollah group.

During a meeting in Beirut with Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's top security body, Aoun warned against foreign interference in Lebanon's internal affairs, saying the country was

France, Germany and Britain have written to the United Nations to say they are ready to reinstate sanctions on Iran if it does not return to negotiations with the international community over its nuclear programme.

BERLIN (AP) — The top diplomats of Britain, France, and Germany threatened to reimpose sanctions on Iran as an end-of-the-month deadline nears for the country to resume negotiations with the West over its nuclear program and cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog.

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have told the United Nations they are ready to reinstate sanctions on Iran if it does not return to negotiations with the international community over its nuclear programme,

France, the United Kingdom, and Germany jointly threatened to reimpose sanctions on Iran at the end of August if Tehran does not resume negotiations with the west over its nuclear program. The trio of European countries,

Tehran has said it remains open to restarting direct talks with the U.S., but stopped short of accepting the terms to abandon its uranium enrichment program.