Aaj English TV

Sunday, November 24, 2024  
21 Jumada Al-Awwal 1446  

Israel main source of terror, Iran and Lebanon say

Ahmadinejad and Lebanese FM meet to strengthen bilateral ties on the sidelines of International terror summit in Tehran during which Israel, U.S. blamed for deteriorating global security.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour declared that Israel remains the main threat and a major source of terror and instability in the Middle East, Iranian Press TV reported on Sunday.

The two officials met late Saturday on the sidelines of the International Conference on the Global Fight against Terrorism in a bid to strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries.

The two-day international summit on terrorism opened Saturday in Tehran. The conference is attended by the presidents of Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan and Tajikistan as well deputy presidents and prime ministers from Lebanon and several other countries.

According to Press TV, Ahmadinejad reiterated his interest to implement agreements signed with Lebanon and to support the new government headed by Hezbollah-backed Najib Mikati.

The Iranian president addressed the Arab leaders at the two-day summit, saying both the Holocaust and the 2001 terror attacks were pretexts by the U.S. to put down Muslims and at the same time make huge economic benefits by spreading panic in the region. Ahmadinejad has often questioned what he called accepted truths.

"If the black box of the 9/11 incident and Holocaust were opened, then some of the truth would be exposed, but the United States does not allow this," Ahmadinejad said.

He said the roots of terrorism should be explored before it can be fought effectively, and blamed U.S. militarism for causing security to deteriorate.

Tehran argues that the most effective way to fight terrorism is to allow regional countries to take care of security and force foreign troops to leave the region.