Tehran to stand by Lebanon against any Israeli attack: Iranian official

.ADAISSEH, Lebanon: Iran’s military attaché said Friday that Tehran would stand in the face of any Israeli aggression against Lebanon.

“We stand in the face of any Zionist aggression on Lebanese territory. We will support the [Lebanese] Army, the people and the resistance,” Saeed Karimi told The Daily Star on the sidelines of a ceremony marking Resistance and Liberation Day at the southern border village of Adaisseh.

He was responding to a question on growing fears Israel might carry out an attack on south Lebanon.

“Not only that, but Iran will stand by all the defeated [people] in the world and shall waste no time in supporting them,” Karimi said.

The ceremony was attended by representatives of Lebanon’s three top leaders – President Michel Sleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati – as well as representatives of Hezbollah and Amal and a number of senior military officers and local deputies.

During the ceremony, participants unveiled a statue commemorating Lebanese soldiers who were killed in the village during cross-border clashes with Israeli troops in 2010.

The uprooting of a tree by the Israeli army sparked shooting that left two Lebanese soldiers dead. A reporter for the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, Assaf Bou Rahhal, was also killed, and Al-Manar TV correspondent Ali Shuaib was wounded. One high-ranking Israeli officer was also killed in the exchange.

The statue – three hands holding an army helmet up high – was unveiled in the presence of Lebanese Army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Walid Salman, representing Lebanese Army head Gen. Jean Kahwagi.

As the ceremony proceeded, Israeli troops in armored vehicles patrolled the border along the one-kilometer-stretch between Adaisseh and Kfar Kila.

Also Friday, Work by Israel on a cement wall along the border with Lebanon that commenced weeks ago neared completion. Israel claims it needs the wall to boost security to its border town of Metula.

In the southern coastal city of Tyre, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel held a meeting Friday with senior Lebanese security officials and local mayors.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn urged Lebanese to rally behind the Lebanese Army and support the resistance.

“On the 12th anniversary of the victory over the Israeli enemy which was forced out of our land, Lebanon is going through a delicate and sensitive period in its history – a period which requires all of us to … rally behind the national army and support the resistance,” Ghosn said in statement.

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