Berri Meets Larijani, Hopes Lebanon Marks Victory against IS

Speaker Nabih Berri met in Tehran on Saturday with President of the Iranian Shura Council Ali Larijani where talks focused on the relations between the two countries, and the latest developments in the region, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The meeting was held in the presence of a number of members of the Iranian Council and the ambassadors of the two countries Fadi al-Haj Ali and Mohammed Fathali.

The Lebanese delegation led by Berri is in Tehran to take part in the oath-taking ceremony of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Larijani “congratulated Lebanon on the victory over terrorism in the outskirts of Arsal,” stated NNA.

For his part, Berri stressed saying that Lebanon is enjoying a stable security situation compared to other countries in the Arab Levant and Europe.

"I would not be exaggerating if I say that it is the safest country not in the Arab Levant but also better than many other countries in Europe," he said.

The Speaker touched on the situation in the outskirts of Lebanon where the Islamic State group lingers, he said: “The area is about 200 square kilometers, about 60 percent of which is Syrian territory. It is normal for the Syrian Arab army to take part in the battle on Syrian soil. This needs to be coordinated in one way or another with the Lebanese army to avoid any mistakes.”

Praising the Lebanese army's efforts and role in maintaining Lebanon's stability and confronting terrorism, he said "I hope that the day Israel was defeated in Lebanon would mark victory against the IS," in reference to the army's ongoing battle against the group on the eastern border towns of al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek.

Hizbullah fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006. The Lebanon-Israel conflict started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006

Pointing to the refugees crisis, the Speaker said “it leaves a heavy burden at more than one level on Lebanon."

“Lebanon hosts around 1.5 million displaced Syrians. The number of Syrian births in Lebanon has exceeded hundreds of thousands,” he said, adding “there is mutual diplomatic representation and agreements between the two countries. But Lebanon is not talking to Syria about the displaced, and I can say that if we did, we would be able to bring back hundreds of thousands of displaced people to Syria through coordination between the two countries."