Ali Larijani, speaker of Iran’s parliament, met with religious and political leaders on a trip to Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, all countries with which Iran has deep economic, security and political ties. Reformist Shargh Daily compiled some highlights and quotations from Larijani's trip using transcripts provided by Iranian news agencies.

In Lebanon, Larijani met with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. At the meeting, Nasrallah said, “The enemy has failed to make the recent conflicts into a wider Sunni-Shiite war,” adding that the conflict pits “terrorist groups against Islamist and people’s groups.” Larijani said, “Now it has become clear that Iran’s position against terrorist groups has been correct from the beginning.”

Larijani also met with Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Defense Minister Sami Mogbel and speaker of parliament Nabih Berri. He told them that Iran is still ready to offer military support to Lebanon. The United States has warned Lebanon against accepting such support from Iran.

In a meeting with Secretary-General of Islamic Jihad Ramadan Abdullah, Larijani said that Iran would continue to support groups that resist Israel, adding, “The issue of Palestine is a pivotal issue for the Islamic Revolution and in addition to political and financial support, we will support groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad militarily.”