Iran hails ‘victory against Israel’ by its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon elections

Poll results signal approval for Beirut’s ‘policy of preserving Lebanon’s independence’ in the battle with ‘Israel, the US,’ senior Iranian adviser says

By AFP 8 May 2018, 1:36 pm

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Hezbollah supporters tour the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon on May 6, 2018, as the country voted in its first parliamentary elections in nine years. (AFP Photo/Mahmoud Zayyat)

TEHRAN, Iran — A senior Iranian official on Tuesday hailed the “victory” of the Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanese elections as a success in the “fight against Israel” and the United States, the state broadcaster reported.

“The Lebanese people and their representatives, Hezbollah and the other resistance groups, scored this victory in the fight against Israel and its allies, including the United States,” said Ali Akbar Velayati, foreign policy adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He referred to Hezbollah’s military support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, saying the election result reflected the group’s “decisive help to Syria against the terrorists.”

“This victory of the Lebanese people and of the resistance… is a sign of approval for the Lebanese government’s policy of preserving Lebanon’s independence… against Israel,” he added.

In this November 3, 2017 photo, released by Lebanon’s official government photographer Dalati Nohra, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, right, meets with Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, at the government House, in Beirut, Lebanon. (Dalati Nohra via AP)

After Sunday’s election — the first since 2009 — Hezbollah and its allies look set to secure a parliament bloc large enough to thwart attempts to make it disarm, a longstanding demand of its political enemies.

The Shiite movement was created with Iranian support in 1982 to fight against Israel and is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States.

It is the key partner in Iran’s “resistance front” against Israeli and US interests in the Middle East, along with allies in Iraq, Syria and the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

“The strength of the resistance front will be considerably reinforced in the world” after this election and that in Iraq on Saturday, Velayati said.