Envoy Stresses Tehran-Beirut Friendly Relations
(FNA)- Iranian Ambassador to Beirut Mohammad Fathali underlined that Iran and Lebanon have friendly and good relations and Tehran will continue to support the Arab country against the terrorists.
"It is our duty to be beside Lebanon as a friendly country," Fathali said on Saturday.
The Iranian ambassador pointed to the ongoing visit of Lebanese Defense Minister Samir Moqbel to Iran, and said, "Moqbel arrived in Tehran at the head of a high-ranking delegation earlier today and after the yesterday arrival of another Lebanese delegation comprising army and defense ministry officials to the Iranian capital."
He noted that the Lebanese defense and military officials are in Tehran to receive Iran's arms aid, and said, "The military aid includes weapons and ammunition."
Fathali explained that Iran had sent a letter to the Lebanese side which included a list of proposed anti-terrorism weapons and equipment.
The Iranian ambassador said that before his departure to Iran, Moqbel said that his country is willing to establish good relations with Iran given the current conditions in the Middle East, including Lebanon, and Iran's capabilities as a major regional power.
The Lebanese defense minister arrived in Tehran this morning to confer with his Iranian counterpart Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan on the expansion of security and military cooperation.
Iranian and Lebanese defense ministers are to exchange views over the latest regional and international developments, and explore new ways of widening and deepening bilateral defense ties.
Mogbel also is to hold separate meetings with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, and Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani during his 3-day stay in Tehran.
At the end of his visit, the Lebanese defense minister is due to take Iran's arms aid to his country.
Moqbel’s visit to Iran comes following the last month visit of Shamkhani to Beirut, where he exchanged views with senior Lebanese officials on ways to bolster bilateral defense cooperation.
On September 30, Shamkhani said that Iran would soon supply the Lebanese army with necessary military equipment to help the country the security threats it is grappling with.
"Iran plans to gift a military tool or weapon to the Lebanese army in the near future," Shamkhani said at the time.
"The gift will be sent in the near future and it will be delivered to the Lebanese defense minister during his upcoming visit to Iran."
A few days later, senior officials in Beirut said Iran had presented a list of military tools and weapons to be gifted to the Lebanese army to help the country in its fight against terrorism.
Later, Moqbel told the Lebanese al-Manar TV that he would visit Iran at the head of a high-ranking military delegation to study Tehran's pledged arms aids to Lebanon.
"The details of the arms aids which Tehran is ready to supply to the Lebanese army will be studied in the presence of a delegation of high-ranking officers," he added.
Moqbel said that the Lebanese army would assess and study Iran's weaponry proposals after returning to Beirut.
He expressed the hope that other countries would also present Beirut arms gifts proportionate to the needs of the Lebanese army.
In recent months, Lebanon has been suffering from terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda-linked militants as well as rocket attacks, which are viewed as a spillover of the foreign-backed crisis from the neighboring Syria.