Ahmadinejad calls for unity of the Lebanese against Israel

Posted on October 13, 2010 by taskker

On the first day of his controversial visit to the country, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has praised the “resistance” against the Lebanese to “aggression” of Israel, its sworn enemy, and called for “unity”. “We strongly support the Lebanese people’s resistance against the Zionist regime,” he told a press conference with his Lebanese counterpart Michel Sleiman, a few hours after arriving for a two-day visit. “We both have interests and common enemies,” he said, referring to Israel that Hezbollah fought in the War of 2006 and in southern Lebanon until the withdrawal of its troops in 2000 after 22 years of occupation. “The resistance of the people, government and army of Lebanon against the Zionist enemy is not only a source of pride for the Lebanese but for the whole region because it changed the balance of power in favor of indigenous this region, “said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He was referring to the fact that Israel has failed to neutralize Hezbollah during the 2006 war. “As long as the spirit of aggression exists in the region, it will not know stability,” warned the conservative president, who makes his first visit to Lebanon since his election in 2005. The visit of the Head of State of a country which is the main sponsor of Hezbollah political and military Shiite, has created a controversy in Lebanon, the pro-Western camp accusing Tehran’s “interference” and fearing that the country becomes a “Iranian base” at the gates of the Jewish state. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sidestepped a question from a reporter about it, merely to assert that the Iranian people stood alongside the Lebanese. “My message to you today is a message of unity,” he said. He also presented to President Sleiman a “Nanoscope” (instrument display in three dimensions) manufactured in Iran.