The lawyer of a Lebanese man who has been held in Iran for nearly two years has addressed an open letter to Speaker Nabih Berri, urging him to address the case with Iranian officials during his official visit to Tehran.

President Michel Aoun invited the Higher Defense Council for a meeting at the Baabda Palace on Tuesday to discuss the security situation in the country, the National News Agency reported.

Aoun's call came as the army gears up to battle the Islamic State militants in eastern Lebanon.

Foreign Minister and Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil said on Monday that it is “normal for the army to be the one to liberate Lebanese territories,” pointing out that the country is celebrating the “restoration of decision making which has been absent before.”

Internal Security Forces have arrested recently a Lebanese man in the Akkar border region of Wadi Khaled over his involvement with the Islamic State group, and plotting to carry out terror attacks against the Lebanese army and security agencies, the ISF said in a statement on Monday.

The ISF said that “a special force of its division have arrested the suspect who was identified by his initials as A.Aa. late in July during a quick operation in the area.”

As reports emerge that “coordination at the military level might take place” between Lebanon and Syria, it has also been reported that around three Lebanese ministers "might make a trip to Syria to meet an invitation" of a Syrian official, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday.

The Lebanese army “does not need anyone’s support in the military operation it intends to launch to oust the militants of the Islamic State group from the outskirts of the towns of al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek,” a military source has said.

In remarks to al-Hayat newspaper published Sunday, the source also denied reports of possible assistance from the warplanes of Russia or the U.S.-led coalition.

As Hizbullah’s offensive got underway in the outskirts of the border town of Arsal last month, Western nations offering aid to the Lebanese army, including the U.S. and the UK, “expressed dismay” that the operation was being carried out by Hizbullah and not the army, a media report published Sunday said.

The army was on Sunday firing heavy artillery at the posts of the jihadist Islamic State group in the outskirts of the eastern border towns of Ras Baalbek and al-Fakiha, the National News Agency said.

As U.S. President Donald Trump recently stood beside Prime Minister Saad Hariri praising his government for standing up to Hizbullah, the Iranian-backed group was busy demonstrating just how wrong he was. The group's fighters were clearing the country's eastern frontier from al-Qaida fighters in a sweeping offensive and negotiating a complex prisoner deal with the group.

Far from being an ally in the fight against Hizbullah, the Lebanese government headed by Hariri is based on a partnership with the Shiite group, whose clout and dominance in Lebanon is on the rise.

Speaker Nabih Berri met in Tehran on Saturday with President of the Iranian Shura Council Ali Larijani where talks focused on the relations between the two countries, and the latest developments in the region, the state-run National News Agency reported.