Publish Date: 29 October 2008 - 14:32

TEHRAN, Oct. 29 (MNA) -- Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili on Tuesday said Lebanon is the epitome of resistance.

“It was the resistance movements in the world, and the perseverance of the Lebanese people, their resistance, imposing a humiliating defeat on Israel, that have caused the U.S. officials to speak about their mistakes and failed policies,” he said in a meeting with the visiting former Lebanese President Émile Lahoud.

 

Jalili expressed satisfaction over the current pleasant atmosphere in Lebanon and offered Iran’s all-out help to the Lebanese people.

 

Lahoud, for his part, stated that Iran is indeed a “true friend” of Lebanon.

 

“In difficult situations we recognize the difference between friends and foes -- and we have found Iran a true friend”.

 

Discussing the 33-day war between Lebanon and Israel, Lahoud said, despite such a momentous defeat, the Israeli regime continues plotting against Lebanon.

 

Iran regards stability of Lebanon as its own

 

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki described the ties between Iran and Lebanon as deep-rooted and said stability and security of Lebanon is regarded as stability and security of Iran, the IRNA reported.

 

Mottaki made the remark in a meeting with Emile Lahoud who arrived in Tehran on an invitation of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

 

Recent agreement in Doha is regarded as a successful example of transregional cooperation resulting from the wisdom of the Lebanese government, he said.

 

Referring to the events taking place in the past 20 months in Lebanon, Mottaki said those events proved that resistance is the key to victory and the enemies of Lebanon never hesitate to harm the country’s independence.

 

Condemning the role of the U.S. in creating crisis in Palestine, the Iranian foreign minister said Washington in Annapolis tried to prevent repatriation of Palestinians to their motherland and called for their expulsion.

 

The Lebanese envoy, for his part, thanked Iran’s constructive and positive role in resolving the crisis in Lebanon.

 

The Zionists confessed to their defeats in the past three wars and are now seeking to create crises to make good on their setbacks, he said.

 

For the same reason, the Zionists in collaboration with countries such as the U.S. seek to disarm the Lebanese resistance movement, he underlined.

 

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