Iran vows to support Lebanon against Israeli 'aggression'

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Sunday that the Islamic Republic will stand by Lebanon and Syria should Israel attack them.

"The Iranian government and nation are willing to support Lebanon and Syria against any possible Israeli aggression," Mottaki said in a joint press conference in Tehran with his Lebanese counterpart Ali Al Shami.

Referring to the border incident which killed Brigadier-General Dov Harari and five Lebanese citizens Mottaki stated that the three countries hold ongoing discussions on Israel's war threats and noted that Iran would offer any help required by Lebanon and Syria.

Mottaki and Al Shami in press conference in Tehran (Photo: AFP)

He condemned the border skirmish and said that "the Zionist regime's steps and recent aggression show that this regime is desperate more than it seeks to demonstrate its power."

He further added, "Israel is trying to save itself from the dead end it has reached…Should it forsake the path of war, terror and aggression one day – it will cease to exist."

Mottaki noted that he does not think a possibility of war in the Middle East is likely but that the region's states would not allow Israel to continue with its "hit and run policy."

Meanwhile, Ali Akbar Velayati, the Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei's political advisor, met with Syrian President Bashar Assad. The two issued a statement saying: "The Islamist resistance in Palestine and Lebanon is the only way to handle the Zionist regime's greediness."

Velayati expressed Iran's support of Hezbollah. He has already met Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and is slated to meet with the heads of the terror organizations in Damascus.

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