Iranian ambassador: Our relations with Syria are strategic

The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Muhammad Ali Sabahani, has asserted that strategic ties and relations link his country and Syria. "We are persistent to preserve these ties," he said.

In a statement he made in Beirut following his meeting on Tuesday with the speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, the Iranian ambassador voiced his country's full support for Syria in restoring its occupied territories. He added, "We also back the state of Lebanon and the Lebanese people and national resistance in order to restore the occupied Lebanese lands."

He added that the Arab and Islamic states have rights and that they have or should struggle to restore rights and eliminate aggression.

He continued, "What we are witnessing now (in reference to the Israeli-Syrian talks) is a continuation of Syria's struggle to restore the occupied Golan."

Sabahani indicated that Iran, Lebanon and Syria have a common responsibility and a common duty for collective work to restore the occupied Arab and Islamic territories.