AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): An advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei asserts that Iran continues to support the regional Front of Resistance under all circumstances.
Ali Larijani made the remarks to reporters in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday following a meeting with the country’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
In response to a question about whether the Islamic Republic had given up on its support for the resistance, Larijani said, “I suppose that you take joking remarks very seriously. Who has said these?”
“We support the resistance under all circumstances,” he added, noting that his underway trip to Lebanon was meant to convey this message.
“We consider it to be our responsibility to support the Lebanese people and their demands, and hope that the country’s conditions be ameliorated as soon as possible.”
The former parliament speaker further hoped that the people, who have been displaced amid incessant Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, would be able to return to their places of residence soon.
The Israeli regime has markedly ramped up its deadly attacks against Lebanon since last October, killing more than 3,360 people and damaging some 100,000 houses.
The Iranian official, however, expressed confidence in the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah’s capability to defend the country, saying, “Hezbollah is a stalwart movement. The Lebanese nation is a stalwart nation too.”
Larijani said both the movement and the Lebanese people were well aware of how they had to act in defense of the country in the face of the atrocities that were being perpetrated by the Israeli regime and its allies.
The official also said he had conveyed a message from Ayatollah Khamenei to Berri, but did not provide any information on its contents.
Larijani commented on an announcement made by Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati earlier in the day, in which he said Lebanon “prioritized” implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.
Adopted to end the Israeli regime’s 2006 war on Lebanon, the resolution has trusted preservation of security in southern Lebanese areas with UN peacekeepers.
“We support whatever important issue that is accepted by the Lebanese authorities and resistance,” Larijani said.
The official was also asked whether Iran sought to “disrupt” an alleged truce proposal that was forwarded on Thursday by the US ambassador to Lebanon to Berri.
Hezbollah has been staging hundreds of retaliatory operations in the face of the Israeli aggression, which has claimed thousands of lives in Lebanon.
“We are not after disrupting anything. We are after resolving issues. We are supportive of the Lebanese people under all circumstances,” Larijani said.
“Those who disrupt situations are [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his henchmen. You should be able to tell your friends and enemies apart.”
Larijani also met with President Bashar al-Assad in the capital Damascus on Thursday.
The two sides underscored the need for putting an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and carnage in Lebanon.
Larijani also held a meeting with the leaders of Palestinian resistance groups in the Syrian capital and expressed the Islamic Republic’s staunch support.
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