By Nadim Ladki
Tuesday, March 08, 2011

TEHRAN: Iran is a key player in Lebanon, there is no doubt about that. But if Lebanese visitors to Tehran are expecting Iranian officials to indulge in lengthy conversations over the political crisis in Lebanon and the role of their ally Hezbollah in domestic Lebanese politics then they are in for a surprise.

Government officials respond to questions about the troubled country with general, brief statements, urging the formation of a Cabinet with wide representation and expressing satisfaction with the political developments in recent weeks, namely the ousting of caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

They say they will work with any government that is supported by the Lebanese people and look forward to implementing economic agreements signed by Hariri himself during a visit to Iran late last year. They denounce the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) investigating the 2005 assassination of statesman Rafik Hariri and say they don’t expect an Israeli war with Lebanon soon.

“Lebanon has shown that it is on the road to political maturity,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told a group of visiting Lebanese journalists and media figures. He said Tehran backed the formation of a new government by Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati “that represents the various sectors and political parties of the Lebanese people.”

When told that March 14 groups, who represent a large segment of Lebanese, had already announced that they would not be taking part in Mikati’s Cabinet, Mehmanparast said with a smile: “But he [Mikati] was from March 14.”
While the officials speak of the importance of the resistance in the face of Israel, they rarely discuss in detail Hezbollah’s role.

One official explained why: “The file of Lebanon is in the hands of the supreme leader [Sayyed Ali Khaminei]. And he entrusts that file to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.”
Iran’s strategic policy in Lebanon goes through Nasrallah, who is a key figure in actually determining that policy, the official told The Daily Star.

Nasrallah is held in high esteem by the Iranian top brass and their supporters. At a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of the founder of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini last June, government supporters stopped Khomeini’s reformist grandson, Hassan Khomeini, from delivering a speech.
“You are not Khomeini’s son,” they chanted. “Hassan Nasrallah is Khomeini’s son.”

An Iranian analyst said the regime and its supporters see Hezbollah as an extension of the Islamic Republic, a powerful and reliable ally. But the Iranian opposition say Iran was wasting badly needed financial resources on Hezbollah at a time of economic hardship back home.

Asked what sort of help Iran was providing the Lebanese group, the analyst pointed to reconstruction projects in Lebanon after the 2006 war with Israel. Pressed on military help, the analyst said: “Iran did not give Hezbollah a fish. It taught it fishing.”
Iranian officials’ stand on the STL echoes that of Hezbollah. They see it as “a conspiracy” against the group and reiterate that Iran will reject it and its finding.

The tribunal is set to charge members of the group in the assassination.
“This trend and this movement by the Tribunal [toward] indicting Hezbollah [members] is a conspiracy,” Mehmanparast said.
“Lebanon through its parties and people must be alert and not get dragged into strife [by the indictment],” he said.
Mehmanparast said it was unlikely that Israel would strike against Hezbollah soon. “Israel doesn’t see that the circumstances are appropriate for military operations because it knows it would be met with a strong response,” he said, explaining that with the fall of the regime in Egypt it was difficult for Israel to attack Lebanon or Gaza.
“If Egypt is not on its side, Israel can’t launch a war,” the spokesman said.