(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — The advisor of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini urged Lebanon on Monday to end its presidential vacuum and continue its fight against extremists along the Syrian border.
Ali Akbar Velayati spoke to reporters upon arriving at the Beirut International Airport for an official visit to the country this week. Velayti was the former minister of foreign affairs from 1981 to 1997, before becoming a chief advisor on international affairs for Iran’s leader.
“The solution to Lebanon’s political problems is up to the Lebanese themselves,” Velayati said. “We are confident that, given Lebanon’s longstanding democracy, the Lebanese will find the right solutions to the ongoing presidential vacuum.”
Velayati was received by Hezbollah lawmaker Ali al-Muqdad, Iranian ambassador in Beirut Mohammad Fateh Ali, and Khalil Hamdan, a member of the Shia Amal Movement.
During a meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh, Velayati praised Hezbollah for confronting armed takfiri groups in Syria’s Qalamoun region.
“We are glad to see that the Lebanese have been able to agree on consolidating national unity and moving forward in confronting Israel and extremist forces,” Velayati added.
His trip to Beirut comes two days after Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced that jihadists from al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State have been pushed out of large areas of Qalamoun.
Velayati will meet with Prime Minister Tammam Salam and other Lebanese officials to discuss the “fight against dark forces and terrorists.”
The latest high-ranking Iranian official to visit Beirut was chairman of Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi in January.