Iranian speaker praises resistance in Lebanon, pledges support

Iranian parliament speaker Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri on Saturday praised guerrillas fighting Israeli occupation forces in south Lebanon and declared unwavering support for the resistance movement.

"We see Hizbullah as a legal movement; we support this movement and see that the Lebanese government supports it as well," he said at a news conference held at the Iranian embassy in Beirut Saturday.

Nateq-Nouri spoke at the end of a three-day visit to Beirut, the first by such a high-ranking Iranian official, during which he met with Lebanese officials and Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah, and laid a wreath on the mass grave of some 100 civilians who were killed by Israeli artillery in the southern Lebanese village of Qana in April 1996.

He said Hizbullah and the Lebanese government were on the same wavelength regarding Israel's occupation and that Iran enjoyed good relations with both.

"Hizbullah is not moving in a different direction from that of the government," he said. "Both are on the same path."

On his Qana visit Friday, the Iranian speaker launched a scathing attack on Israel and the West and condemned their silence on Israel's occupation of Arab land.

"There is no hope from the international community. The only way is to rely on God and to continue our steadfastness, struggle and martyrdom until we achieve victory," Nateq-Nouri said.