Lebanon’s social affairs minister has backed calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah but cautioned that the process would take time before a “political settlement” could be reached, calling the group a “community” and not merely a militant organisation.

Haneen Sayed told a discussion in Washington on Monday that disarming Hezbollah – an Iran-backed militant group – was a demand of her government and its people, and that it “must happen”.

“Of course, we understand that implementation is not easy....