Iran fully prepared to bolster Lebanon’s defense system: envoy

November 7, 2006 - 0:0
TEHRAN -- Iran is prepared to reinforce Lebanon’s air defense, Iran’s ambassador to Beirut Mohammad-Reza Sheibani said on Sunday.

Sheibani met the Lebanese Army commander General Michel Suleiman to revive a previous agreement between Iran and Lebanon. The meeting followed Suleiman’s visit to the war-torn areas in south Lebanon, Sheibani told the Mehr News Agency.

“In the 33-day war, the Zionist regime harmed Lebanon from its only vulnerable spot (Achilles' heel) that was through using destructive air strikes,” he stated.

“After his visit to the South, Suleiman requested other countries to help equip Lebanon’s defense system,” he said, adding, “Tehran is obliged to help friendly states that are under Israel’s attack.”

“Iran is also prepared to help Lebanon in other defensive fields, as well as to extinguish the cluster bombs remaining from Israel’s invasion to the country,” he noted.

Israel is still violating Lebanese skies

Lebanon's leading Shia cleric Seyyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah called on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to provide the Lebanese Army with defensive weapons.

“Israel is still violating our skies without taking UNIFIL's role into consideration,” he said in a meeting with Spanish Ambassador Miguel Benzo Perea on Friday, The Muslim News reported.

“UNIFIL should provide the army with surface-to-air missiles so it will be able to prevent any Israeli violation of Lebanon's airspace,” he said.

Fadlallah also expressed opposition to foreign interference into Lebanon's affairs, which he warned might create conflicts in the country and further complicate relations among the Lebanese.

“We do not accept any international or regional tutelage,” he emphasized.