Economics
Lebanon Picks US-Backed Aoun as President in Shift From Iran
- Dollar bonds rally after Joseph Aoun is voted as new president
- Challenges include helping to maintain Israel-Hezbollah truce
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Lebanon’s lawmakers elected army commander Joseph Aoun as the country’s first president in more than two years, picking a US-backed candidate in a sign of Iran’s waning influence in the region.
More than two-thirds of politicians voted for Aoun to begin a six-year term, clearing a hurdle that hadn’t been met in several recent attempts to pick a president. His win ends a lengthy power vacuum and represents a pivot by Beirut toward the West, with Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah weakened by last year’s bruising conflict with Israel.