BEIRUT: Iran has informed the Lebanese government of the nature of the pledged military aid, Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Fathali said Tuesday, after Iran announced it would donate military equipment to the Lebanese Army last week.
“The military grant provided by Iran to the Lebanese government and the Lebanese Army is ready in storage in Tehran,” Fathali said after meeting with the Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan.
According to the Iranian ambassador, Tehran has also sent an official letter to the Lebanese government listing the weapons and military equipment included in the pledged aid.
“We believe the [donation] will support the valiant Lebanese Army in its heroic confrontation with terrorist groups” he added.
There have been local and foreign calls to shore up the Lebanese Army’s capabilities to help in the battle against terrorism since it fought fierce battles with ISIS and Nusra Front militants after they briefly took over the northeastern town of Arsal in August, capturing 30 soldiers and policemen before retreating to the town’s outskirts.
Speaking on his meeting with Arslan, Fathali said the consolidation of bilateral relations between Iran and Lebanon was among the most important points to be raised.
Fathali lauded the party chief, saying that he praised Arslan’s approach to local and regional political dossiers. The Iranian ambassador also said that Arslan had a prestigious record in political and national life, causing him to enjoy “great prestige among all the officials in Iran.”
Meanwhile, MP Michel Aoun’s parliamentary Change and Reform bloc welcomed the Iranian military aid to the Lebanese Army to help it in the battle against terrorist groups, indirectly dismissing March 14’s rejection of the aid on the grounds it is coming from Iran.
“The Iranian [military] grant for the Lebanese Army is unconditional and instant under the circumstances through which we are passing,” former Labor Minister Salim Joreisati told reporters after the bloc’s weekly meeting chaired by Aoun.
He said the Iranian grant still needed a Cabinet approval based on a proposal by Defense Minister Samir Moqbel who has said he would visit Tehran soon to discuss details of the grant with Iranian officials.
Referring to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1474, which explicitly forbids all export of arms from Iran, Joreisati said: “The most important element in the U.N. Resolution 1474 is that it applies only to economic exchanges. The result lies in politics. Shall we reject a grant just because it is coming from Iran?”
Indirectly referring to the March 14 rejection of the military aid because it is coming from Iran, which arms and finances Hezbollah, he said: “The political rejection [of the grant] is condemned in these circumstances which the entire world has described as dangerous because takfiri terrorism has invaded countries and borders, in addition to the forced displacement of peoples from their lands and killing them en masse. These are crimes against humanity and annihilation crimes as described by the relevant U.N. resolutions.”
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