Iran is to give a military grant to the Lebanese Army, the head of Iran’s national security council said.

Iran is to give a military grant to the Lebanese Army, the head of Iran's national security council said on Tuesday.

The Lebanese Army has been stepping up efforts to prevent gunmen from Syria entering Lebanese border towns. Last month, the north-eastern town of Arsal was the scene of the deadliest spillover of fighting in the three-year-old war in Syria.

"The Islamic Republic decided to give a military grant to the Lebanese Army," Supreme National Security Council Director Ali Shamkhani told reporters in Beirut.

He did not say what the grant would include. A diplomatic source said the Iranian defense minister would soon ask his Lebanese counterpart for a list of weapons needed by the army.

Shamkhani is meeting Lebanese officials, including the Prime Minister Tamman Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri.