Ali Shamkhani received Lebanese Minister of Finance Ali Hassan Khalil on Monday evening where Shamkhani lavished praise on Lebanese army and Hezbollah as crucial in fighting threats from the Zionist regime as well as threats of extremist Takfiris; “as long as organized support for ISIL and Takfirist factions continues and borders are open to arms coming for extremists, we will see the death of civilians,” Shamkhani said, making hints to terrorist attacks which rocked Beirut earlier this month.
“An accurate approach toward Takfirists by Lebanese branch of the resistance which is actively fighting terrorists inside Syrian borders had significantly contributed to abatement of terrorist attacks in Lebanon; today, the righteous positions of the resistance, which had been fighting the conspiracy launched by terrorist groups who slaughtered the public in the name of fighting Syrian government, had been more than clear,” Shamkhani told his Lebanese guest, extending his criticism for stopping by satellites of airing Al-Manar and Al-Mayadeen Networks which he believed, exposed the true face of terrorism and spread realities on the ground.
“Blockading the stream of these channels is violation of the freedom of expression with western standards of human rights,” Mr. Shamkhani added. On the political vacuum in Lebanon, Leader’s representative to the SNSC called all Lebanese groups to practice wisdom to come to a proper political figure who could secure Lebanese national interests and also strengthen the resistance positions.
Shamkhani then touched upon recent report by the IAEA on Iran’s PMD (Possible Military Dimension) which was once widely believed to be ‘neither totally white nor wholly dark’ by Iranian officials. However, Mr. Shamkhani condemned the report, believing that in some cases, “the report is unacceptable and shows inconsistencies.”
“However, some articles of the report do acknowledge that Iran’s nuclear program showed no deviation toward nuclear weapons, which clearly debunks the claims and allegations leveled against Iran in the past 11 years by some countries; this recognition comes only belatedly and a long-expected keeping of distance from a purely political approach to the program,” said the SNSC secretary, emphasizing that no legal, technical, and constitutional reason would keep open the past cases of Iran’s nuclear program.
Ali Hassan Khalil, for his part, pointed to opportunities in Iran-Lebanon economic relations; “the Islamic Republic of Iran is a strategic partner for Lebanon, and we actively seek broadening of ties with the country,” he added. “Cutting the routes bringing support for terrorist groups is an important step in fighting terrorism which would only happen when all countries join the international battle against extremism.”
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