Al-Rahi Mulling Visit to Tehran, Final Decision Not Taken Yet
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will not visit Iran any time soon despite receiving several invitations, Bkirki sources said in comments published in al-Joumhouria newspaper on Friday.
“If the Patriarch was going to travel to Tehran we would inform the public,” the sources said.
They added that al-Rahi is mulling the invitations he received but he didn't take a final decision so far.
“The campaign staged against the visit was void,” the sources added.
Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Rokn Abadi reiterated during talks with al-Rahi on Monday his country's invitation for the Patriarch to visit Tehran.
Concerning the recent tension at the Universite Saint Joseph in the Huvelin neighborhood in Beirut, the sources pointed out that al-Rahi is following up the matter.
“Al-Rahi rejects all kinds of provocations, assaults and insulting national symbols,” the sources said, adding that the Patriarch is demanding for justice to take its course.
The sources said that al-Rahi holds politicians responsible over the situation in universities.
Classes have been suspended once again at USJ on Wednesday after a quarrel between the students.
The incident came days after tensions were high in wake of a standoff between Hizbullah and March 14 camp supporters.
Media reports said that Hizbullah supporters surrounded the university on Monday in protest against recent student election results, which led to the standoff and the eventual intervention of the army and security forces to avert any violence.
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