Iran’s ambassador Ghazanfar Roknabadi has reportedly said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Lebanon is aimed at strengthening the Lebanese unity and consensus on the Resistance.
Roknabadi said he backs the ( controversial ) equation of “army-Resistance-people.” and said we should also add the ‘Government ‘ to it.
Roknabadi remarks which were published Thursday by An-Nahar newspaper contradict the call on Wednesday by former minister Wiam Wahab ( a close ally of the Iranian backed Hezbollah) urging the ministers of Hezbollah and its allies to resign from the cabinet and to overthrow the government as soon as possible .
Roknabadi said Tehran stands side-by-side with Lebanon … because Lebanon has the right to resist Israel, which is the source of all calamities in the region.”
“Our positions are clear and direct,” Roknabadi stressed. “We paid dearly for our positions and we are willing to pay more because we are convinced that national interest is part of justice and when global justice prevails national interests are secured.”
conflicting reports
There are conflicting reports over Ahmadinejad’s planned visit.
While the Iranian officials and their Hezbollah led allies have been talking about the visit Syrian President Bashar Assad has reportedly asked his Iranian counterpart to postpone his visit to Lebanon as “this is not the right time.”
Kuwaiti newspaper al-Anbaa quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Ahmadinejad’s scheduled visit to Lebanon around mid-October was brought up during the recent summit with Assad in Damascus.
The sources said Assad asked Ahmadinejad why he wanted to visit Lebanon .The Iranian President has reportedly told Assad that the visit was “significant due to the strategic importance of the southern Lebanon .”
Ahmadinejad has also reportedly told Assad, according to the sources, that he viewed the entire area of southern Lebanon as Iran’s border with Israel.
At this point, the sources said, Assad advised that Ahmadinejad’s visit should not take place at this time.
Assad, however, also hoped in the event Ahmadinejad went ahead of his visit to tone down his statements during during his visit since Lebanon’s security was very important to Syria’s security interests.
Al-Anbaa said that Ahmadinejad promised Assad at the end of their meeting to “seriously consider” the Syrian president’s recommendations.
To throw stones
In a related development the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi reported that Ahmadinejad intends to throw stones toward Israel from southern Lebanon.
The paper said that the measure is a “symbolic gesture” during Ahmadinejad’s upcoming visit to Lebanon where he is expected to take part in a massive celebration in the border town of Bint Jbeil.
The daily said Ahmadinejad will also inaugurate Fatima border crossing garden from where he will throw stones toward Israel in a move that reflects Iran’s hostility toward Israel.
Hezbollah
Hezbollah receives substantial amounts of financial, training, weapons, explosives, political, diplomatic, and organizational aid from Iran .
Hezbollah was established in Lebanon in 1982 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In its founding statement, Hezbollah declared itself committed to the “creation of an Islamic republic in Lebanon.” Tehran then sent hundreds of clerics and Revolutionary Guards to Lebanon to preach Iranian theology and draft recruits.
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