Beirut (AFP) — Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun on Monday told the head of United States forces in the Middle East that Beirut intended to assert its sovereignty over the entire country, with the army deployed right up to the Israeli border.

Aoun met Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, to discuss the Washington-brokered agreement signed last week by Israel and Lebanon aimed at a peace deal.

Cooper also met Lebanon’s army chief Rodolphe Haykal, with the discussions addressing “the latest developments in Lebanon and the region,” the army said in a statement.

As part of the Washington deal, Hezbollah is to be disarmed, with the onus for doing so on the Lebanese army. Israeli leaders have said their troops will continue to occupy the south until then.

The Iran-backed militant group has fiercely opposed the agreement and leading figures have warned of conflict within Lebanon if the deal is forced on them.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March with rocket fire at Israel, triggering Israeli airstrikes and a ground invasion.

According to the statement, Haykal and Cooper discussed “the importance of successfully implementing the security annex of the framework agreement”, as well as ways of strengthening future cooperation.