Khamenei Adviser Hails Lebanese for Uniting against Takfiris
The adviser of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday expressed confidence in the politicians' ability to find the appropriate solution to Lebanon's presidential vacuum and lauded them on their unity to confront extremists.
“We are glad to see that the Lebanese have been able to agree on consolidating national unity and moving forward in confronting Israel and extremist forces,” Ali Akbar Velayati said following talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh.
He said he was proud of the victories achieved by Hizbullah along with the Syrian army in confronting the armed takfiri groups in Syria's Qalamoun region.
Velayati is in Beirut on a one-day official visit for talks with top officials, including Prime Minister Tammam Salam who said Lebanon is “bound to fight the dark forces and terrorists."
The visiting official told reporters at Rafik Hariri International Airport upon landing in Beirut that it was up to the Lebanese to solve the country's political problems.
He expressed confidence in the ability of rival parties to find the appropriate solution to the presidential crisis.
Baabda Palace has been vacant since President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended in May last year.
The Iranian official's trip to Beirut comes two days after Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address that jihadists from al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State group have been pushed out of large areas of Syria's Qalamoun region.
Qalamoun is a mountain range along the border with Lebanon where Syrian troops backed by Hizbullah are fighting the militants.
The mountain range is close to Damascus and links it to the coastal heartland of President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
The latest high-ranking Iranian official to visit Beirut was chairman of Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi in January.
G.K.
H.K.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/179213 |