BEIRUT – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday used a visit to Lebanon to assure the government that Tehran would stand by Beirut in confronting what he called hostilities from neighbouring Israel.
Mr Ahmadinejad, making the first official state visit by an Iranian president to Lebanon, was given a tumultuous welcome by thousands of Shia Muslims, who lined the road from the airport, throwing rice and petals at his motorcade.
“The Iranian nation will always stand beside the Lebanese nation and will never abandon them . . . we will surely help the Lebanese nation against animosities, mainly staged by the Zionist regime,” he said.
In a message apparently aimed at easing months of tension between pro-western politicians and Tehran’s Shia ally, Hizbullah, Mr Ahmadinejad said Iran supported a strong and unified Lebanon.
His trip however raised concerns in Washington, which wants to isolate Iran over its nuclear programme and says its support for Hizbullah undermines Lebanese sovereignty.
It also alarmed pro-western politicians in Lebanon’s fractious unity government, who have protested that Mr Ahmadinejad treats Lebanon like “an Iranian base on the Mediterranean”.
But the Iranian leader made no mention of Hizbullah in his comments at the presidential palace, emphasising instead Iranian support for Lebanon as a whole.
“We support a strong and unified Lebanon. We will always back the Lebanese government and its nation,” he said, standing alongside President Michel Suleiman, a Maronite Christian.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said that Washington rejected any efforts “to destabilise or inflame tensions” in Lebanon.
“We are very committed to supporting the Lebanese government as it deals with a number of challenges in its region and we would hope that no visitor would do anything or say anything that would give cause to greater tension or instability . . . ” she said during a visit to Kosovo.
Lebanese minister Gebran Bassil said Iran had agreed a $450 million (€322 million) loan to support power and water projects. – (Reuters)