BEIRUT: Iran is proud of Hezbollah’s achievements in Syria’s Qalamoun, a visiting senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Monday, as the party’s fighters and Syrian troops made further advances near Lebanon’s border.
“We feel very proud, and we highly appreciate the additional achievements and victories that the courageous Lebanese resistance and the Syrian Army were able to make in recent days, by confronting and driving away takfiri groups in Qalamoun,” Ali Akbar Velayati said, after visiting Speaker Nabih Berri at his Beirut residence.
“We consider that this contributes to the strengthening of the ‘axis of resistance,’ not only in Lebanon and Syria, but across the whole region.” Iran refers to its alliance with Syria and Hezbollah as ‘the axis of resistance.’
Velayati said hoped the moment would come “when some regional countries stop embracing and supporting the forces of evil and darkness, whether in Syria or Lebanon.”
Asked to comment on a conference on the Yemeni crisis currently being hosted by Riyadh, Velayati said that such gatherings should be held in a neutral country, rather than one involved in the conflict.
A veteran Iranian diplomat and politician, Velayati also held talks with Prime Minister Tammam Salam.
Following their meeting, the Iranian official said Salam stressed to him the necessity of “Lebanon combatting the takfiri, extremist forces of darkness and terrorism.”
Velayati said he felt from his meetings with Lebanese officials that the majority of the Lebanese people stand united in confronting terrorism.
He added that Iran supported all efforts to end Lebanon’s yearlong presidential interregnum.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran backs all efforts made by the dear Lebanese people, the elite Lebanese politicians, the Lebanese government, and all influential Lebanese parties, in order to fill the presidency,” he said.
The Iranian official also said that he and Salam agreed that ties between Lebanon and Iran were strategically important.
“I felt that there was a consensus and a convergence in views on the fact that good bilateral ties between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Lebanon are [both] distinguished and strategic, and have a great effect on political developments at the regional level,” Velayati said.
He also held talks with Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, and attended the final session of an international conference on Palestine.
On arriving at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport, Velayati said that Lebanon’s democracy was capable of bringing an end to the country’s presidential deadlock.
“Resolving the political problems in Lebanon concerns the Lebanese themselves.”
“We are confident that thanks to Lebanon’s deep-rooted democracy, the country will eventually find a suitable exit [from the existing crisis], and find an appropriate solution for filling the vacant presidency.”
Hezbollah and the Syrian Army pushed further into Qalamoun Monday, killing 10 jihadi militants and wounding 20 others, according to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based activist group, said both sides suffered casualties in the fighting.
The militant casualties came after Hezbollah and the Syrian Army targeted positions on the outskirts of the Syrian village of Flita.
The Syrian Army and its Lebanese allies reached the area of Birkat al-Fakhte, the station reported, on the eastern outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Arsal, and to the west of Flita.
Television footage also showed Hezbollah fighters targeting militant positions on the Al-Thalaja Mountain, south of the village.
The report also said that crossings between the outskirts of Arsal, Flita and the village of Jarajeer are now in range of Hezbollah firepower.
The fight for control over the outskirts of Flita began over the weekend. If Hezbollah and the Syrian Army capture the area and advance further north, jihadi militants may have no other option but to retreat toward the outskirts of Arsal, according to Al-Manar.
Capturing Flita’s outskirts will also allow Hezbollah and Syrian forces to link up with other units on the outskirts of the Syrian village of Ras al-Maara, who were engaged in pitched battles with militants Friday.
Most of the jihadi groups fighting in the Qalamoun have united under the umbrella of the Army of Conquest, which is dominated by the Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch.
Clashes raged between ISIS and the Nusra Front on the outskirts of Arsal Monday, a security source told The Daily Star.
The fighting took place approximately 5 kilometers from the Lebanese border village. Arsal residents reported hearing heavy artillery and mortar fire, and several fighters were killed during the battles, according to the source.
Al-Manar also reported clashes between ISIS and the Nusra Front in the outskirts of Jarajeer. The fighting outside Jarajeer and Arsal killed dozens of ISIS and Nusra Front fighters, including field commanders, Al-Manar said.
The National News Agency also reported that the Lebanese Army pounded jihadi militant positions in nearby Wadi Rafek.
The agency said the Army used medium and heavy weapons and launched flares in order to reveal the movement of militants, who were attacking military posts.
