Lebanon lawmakers elected army commander Joseph Aoun as the country’s first president in more than two years, picking a U.S.-backed candidate in a sign of Iran’s waning influence in the region.

Lebanon’s parliament has elected Joseph Aoun, the country’s army chief, as president, ending a two-year political deadlock that left the nation without a head of state. Aoun, 60, secured the presidency after gaining the backing of key political parties and international support from the United States,

Lebanon’s parliament chose the country’s army commander, Joseph Aoun, as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum.