Zarif who had arrived in Beirut Tuesday night and had met with Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah as the first meeting, was received by Gebran Bassil, Lebanese Foreign Minister, and they both attended a joint press conference where Zarif expressed gratitude for warm welcome and hospitality of his counterpart and of the people of Lebanon as well; “we welcome Mr. Bassil’s kind expressions about the nuclear crisis and the negotiators; Lebanon is the quintessence of resistance, and today, we are on the eve of the Lebanese historic victory against the Zionist regime,” said Mr. Zarif in the press conference, trying to draw similarities between Lebanese resistance and Iranian resistance which he believed was the major factor in bringing the negotiations into a definite outcome.
“Lebanon is also a symbol of dialogue and constructive interaction of different ethnic, partisan, and religious groups; our effort in negotiation was waged to show the world that global problems would not be solved through recourse to coercion, denigration, and sanction, but through mutual respect and dialogue,” he told the reporters.
“Today, a fresh opportunity faces countries in the region to adopt new perspectives to the ongoing issues of the region which would be based on peace, mutual trust, cooperation, and development, in joint campaigns against two enemies in the region, that is, Israel and sectarian extremism,” Mr. Zarif added.
Zarif ensured the Lebanese government and nation of Iran’s support for the resistance along with economic cooperation and developing ties in other fields of interest.
Gebran Bassil, for his part, dubbed Iran a dependable partner for Lebanon in inflicting defeat to the Zionist regime; “Israel is the only nuclear power who has nuclear warheads and is a grave threat to Lebanon, and who has not joined NPT; it has embarked on fostering a racist system of government, which is in contradiction with Lebanese government system which is based on brotherhood, symbiosis, and pluralism,” he told the press.
“Success in nuclear negotiations by Iran provides a great example for Lebanese people and the multiplicity of the ethnic as well as culturally diverse communities in fighting Takfirist way of thinking; we and Iran have, since the beginning, understood and accurately evaluated the threat the terrorism poses to humanity, and issued warnings on the consequences of isolating Iran and incurring political costs of such a conduct,” Bassil emphasized.
“Now we are both in the same front, standing by each other; Syria is grappling with foreign terrorists entering the country, and Lebanese eastern borders suffer such terrorist extremists as ISIL and Al-Nusra Front; we also face the ever-increasing surge of Syrian refugees; we believe that returning these refugees back to their country as possible way to hit a solution to the crisis, as a prelude to any political solution, such as Iran’s 4-point plan to crisis in Syria,” he asserted.
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