Hezbollah source of pride for Muslim world: Iran’s Zarif

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the performance of Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah in Lebanon and the region is a source of pride for the entire Muslim world.

Zarif made the remarks in a meeting with Lebanon-based Iranian officials and their families in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Tuesday. He has traveled to the country at the head of a business delegation.

“The role played by Hezbollah as the symbol of resistance, and also by the movement’s authorities, especially Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is a source of pride, not only for Lebanon and Iran, but also for the entire Muslim world,” he said.

He said Lebanon embodied “the resistance’s triumph over the tyranny, occupation, and bloodletting of the Zionist regime (Israel).”

The top Iranian diplomat also hailed the recent election of Michel Aoun as the Lebanese president, which ended a 29-month presidential vacuum in the country.

“The creation of domestic consensus in Lebanon led to considerable success not only for one group but also for all of the Lebanese,” he said.

Zarif also said some regional states harbored certain undue concerns following the successful negotiation of a nuclear deal between Iran and the 5+1 Group in 2015 and “set the region on fire” as a result of such concerns.
“The innocent people of Yemen and Syria are paying for the phobia and the very destructive game by the angry states of the region,” he noted. “We hope these countries will soon come to the conclusion that the continuation of these policies will not lead to anything other damage to themselves.”

Saudi Arabia has been waging war on Yemen since March 2015. Along with some other regional and non-regional countries, Riyadh has also been backing a deadly militancy in Syria.

EA