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TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's foreign ministry on Monday praised the electoral sweep by an Iranian-supported Shiite Muslim coalition in Lebanon, calling it a victory for the Lebanese people. "We hope that these victories continue ... and allow a deepening of relations between the Lebanese and Iranian peoples and governments," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said, as cited by Iranian radio. Hezbollah and Amal, which are both supported by Iran and Damascus, reportedly took all the seats in south Lebanon and in the eastern Bekaa valley, which Asefi called "a new victory for the Lebanese people." The two Shiite groups entered the elections in an alliance after visits to Iran by Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah and Amal leader Nabih Berri, who is also speaker of the Lebanese parliament. Ali Akbhar Velayati, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, earlier visited Lebanon, where he met with Berri and President Emile Lahoud. Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi also traveled to south Lebanon in May, just days after the end of Israel's 22-year occupation, which Hezbollah and Amal resisted by force of arms. |
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