Hariri: Jalili’s visit “unwelcome”, does not serve Lebanon’s interest

Former PM Saad Hariri said on Monday that the visit of Iranian National Security Higher Council Secretariat, Said Jalili, to Lebanon is “unwelcome” at a time when “the Syrian people are being subject to the most horrible massacres and destruction carried out by the Assad regime and its foreign protectors”.    

Hariri added that Jalili’s visit does not serve the interest of the Lebanese people “who cannot [abstain] from showing solidarity with their brothers in Syria or distance themselves from the unified Arab position that calls for the stepping down of Bashar Assad and keeping Iran out of the Arab affairs in general, and the Syrian and Lebanese in general.”      

In a cable sent to the Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi offering condolences for the victims of the attack against the Egyptian army at the Rafah crossing in the Sinai desert yesterday, Hariri said “Jalili’s visit arouse suspicions at this particular time, especially since it comes in the wake of the visit of Walid al-Moallem to Tehran, and the threats addressed by the Iranian political and military leaders, in particular the recent statements of the Iranian Defense Minister “.