Salehi Tells Ghosn Iran Eyes Stronger Defense Ties with Lebanon

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Sunday stressed the importance of “broadening bilateral ties with Lebanon, particularly in the defense field,” during talks with Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn in Tehran, the Iranian news agency ISNA reported.

Ghosn and Salehi discussed bilateral, regional and international issues, it said.

Salehi cautioned that regional countries should be “vigilant against the enemy's (Israel’s) plots in sowing dispute among regional countries.”

He added that Iran was against any interference in the affairs of the countries in the region and that it believes the problems in any country should be resolved domestically.

"Unfortunately, now we are witnessing that foreign media have acknowledged weapons smuggling into Syria and the terrorist actions inside the country that are aimed at making the country insecure," Salehi went on to say.

He noted that the mounting pressure on the Syrian regime was “due to the country's independent position in supporting resistance against the Zionists in the region.”

For his part, Ghosn hailed Iran's “all-out support for the Lebanese state, government and resistance,” ISNA reported.

Ghosn also linked the Arab and Western pressure on Syria to “its support for the resistance,” adding however that the Syrian government should implement reforms to meet its people’s “legitimate demands.”

On Monday, Ghosn held talks with Saeed Jalili, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator and secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.

Jalili noted that that balance in the region “is changing in the interest of resistance movements, especially after the victory of the Lebanese Resistance against Israel in the 2006 summer war,” Iran’s semi-official news agency FARS reported.

"The capacity of the Lebanese nation in support of the Resistance (Hizbullah) led to the first ever victory of an Arab country over the Zionist regime," Jalili stated.

Ghosn, for his part, said that “the arrogant powers (Israel and the West) are trying to confront the Resistance by every possible means,” according to FARS.

"The arrogance sees the Resistance as a bone in its throat and is seeking to confront it in any possible way, but (the Lebanese) people and the army stand firm in support of the Resistance," the news agency quoted Ghosn as saying.

On Sunday Ghosn held talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi.