Haaretz
Shvat 29, 5767
Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that Lebanon and Hezbollah have his
complete support in their struggle against Israel and the United
States.
"Iran and Lebanon are two parts of the same body, and only
through cooperation between our two nations will it be possible to foil
the conspiracies of the enemy," Ahmadinejad said.
"Thanks to
Hezbollah, the Lebanese people have become a symbol of courage, faith and
respect for all nations, and all this through the power of resistance,"
Ahmadinejad added.
Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived in Iran
on Saturday. Assad is scheduled to meet with Ahmadinejad to discuss
developments in the Palestinian Authority, Iraq and Lebanon.
On
Friday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that his organization is
entitled to secretly transfer arms in order to fight Israel, and that he
will not forgive the Lebanese Army for seizing last week an arms-laden
truck that belonged to Hezbollah.
Nasrallah said "we have plenty of
weapons ... and we have the right to transport our arms to combat
Israel."
Nasrallah said the arms transfers are carried out in
secret in order "to hide them from the Israeli enemy."
The
Hezbollah chief added that his group has no intention of disarming, and
intends to maintain its forces in southern Lebanon. "The resistance will
always stand by the Lebanese Army in southern Lebanon, with our weapons,
men and blood... to defend Lebanon," he said.
Hezbollah is "ready
to give the army all the arms it needs," but will not forgive anyone who
confiscates even a single bullet, Nasrallah added.
Nasrallah was
speaking at a Beirut rally marking the anniversary of the assassination of
his predecessor, Sheik Abbas Musawi, who was killed in 1992 in an Israeli
strike.
Last week, the Lebanese Army confiscated a truck that was
full of Hezbollah weapons.
Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr
said during a televised interview that the arms shipment was comprised of
rockets, but staunchly denied allegations that the shipment came from
Syria, saying it originated from within Lebanese territory.
The
Shi'ite organization announced that the truck belongs to it, and demanded
that the Lebanese Army release it immediately.
The incident
heightened tensions between Lebanon's government and Hezbollah, which has
called for its overthrow.
Nasrallah, vowed on Friday to continue
the opposition campaign led by his militant group to force Prime Minister
Fuad Saniora to share power or step down, saying he was confident of
eventual triumph, claiming the militants had the resources for
it.
"No one should imagine that the opposition's coffers have
emptied," he said. "If the (demands) are not met, the opposition will
continue its actions by means which it finds appropriate."
However,
Nasrallah insisted his Sh'ite Muslim followers would not incite a conflict
that could degenerate into a civil war. Saniora is backed by the country's
Sunnis.
"Civil war is a red line," Nasrallah said, an expression he
also used last month after scuffles between pro- and anti-government
supporters turned into Shi'ite-Sunni sectarian clashes that killed eight
people.