BEIRUIT // Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised yesterday that Iran would stand by Lebanon in facing aggression from neighbouring Israel.
Mr Ahmadinejad, on the first state visit by an Iranian president to Lebanon, was greeted by tens of thousands of supporters, most of them Shiite, lining streets from Beirut's airport waving Lebanese and Iranian flags to show their gratitude to the Islamic republic for its aid.
After a quick tour of a Palestinian refugee camp near the airport, Mr Ahmadinejad met the Lebanese president, Michel Suleiman, in the presidential palace near Beirut. There, the Iranian leader pledged US$450 million (Dh1.6billion) in additional aid from Tehran and signed a defence cooperation agreement, the details of which were not disclosed. "The Iranian nation will always stand beside the Lebanese nation and will never abandon them … We will surely help the Lebanese nation against animosities, mainly staged by the Zionist regime," Mr Ahmadinejad told reporters afterward, referring to Israel. He also urged the "full liberation of occupied territory in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine".
In a message apparently aimed at easing tensions between the pro-western government and Tehran's ally Hizbollah, Mr Ahmadinejad said he supported a strong and unified Lebanon. Hizbollah and the Sunni-led government of Saad Hariri, the prime minister, are at odds over a UN investigation into the 2005 assassination of Mr Hariri's father, Rafik. Much of Lebanon is convinced that Hizbollah, and possibly Iran itself, might be implicated in the killing.
A vocal critic of the Iranian president's visit, Samir Geagea, had warned the Lebanese would welcome the "president of Iran" but not the "president of parts of Lebanon" - a clear reference to Hizbollah's reputation for maintaining its own state. Yesterday, however, Mr Geagea, a member of parliament, called Mr Ahmadinejad's statements "moderate". The US and Israel expressed concern over Mr Ahmadinejad's visit, saying support for Hizbollah undermines Lebanese sovereignty. "We reject any efforts to destabilise or inflame tensions within Lebanon," the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said. "We would hope that no visitor would do anything or say anything that would give cause to greater tension or instability in that country."
Among those who turned out to welcome the Iranian leader on the first day of a scheduled two-day visit, there was nothing but enthusiasm. Firas Zaghloul, a 34-year-old taxi driver from Beirut's southern suburbs, a bastion of support for both Iran and Hizbollah, said he had brought his son to thank Iran for its role in liberating Lebanon from Israeli occupation in 2000. "He is a great man. His country helped us so much we have to appreciate them," Mr Zaghloul said. "The best thing they gave us is the resistance. Our Islamic resistance is our shield, and without the full support of Iran we would never have been able to liberate the land."
Abbas Nahas, 61, arrived in the capital by bus from the southern village of Beit Leif to express gratitude to the government that rebuilt his home after the 2006 war with Israel. "Why I'm here? I'm here to appreciate all they gave us," said Mr Nahas, a schoolteacher, describing how Iranian aid rebuilt his home and village after the war. Besides spending millions of dollars to help train and equip Hizbollah, the Iranian government and assorted charities donated additional millions after the 2006 war to reconstruct the large swaths of south Lebanon shattered by the 34-day conflict.
Mr Ahmadinejad was due to see first-hand the results of Tehran's aid during a tour of southern Lebanon this morning. At a rally last evening in the Hizbollah stronghold of Haret Hriek in Beirut, Mr Ahmadinejad jumped down from the stage and shook hands with dignitaries in the crowd, which numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Speaking through an Arabic translator, Mr Ahamdinejad told the cheering crowd that the difference between the resistance and its opponents was the same as "light against darkness" and that the West only cares for freedom and liberty as slogans.
He also defended the role of Hizbollah as an armed entity within Lebanon, saying, "to resist Zionism is never a crime". In Iran, state-run television gave live coverage to the first day of Mr Ahmadinejad's visit. The network and other news outlets said the welcome shown by the Lebanese people was proof of Lebanon's support for the Islamic Republic and a victory for Iranian diplomacy. "The Israel-US axis that had opposed the Iranian president's visit has been checkmated by the huge welcome offered to the Iranian president," Seyed Mohammad Sadegh al Hosseini, a Middle East analyst told the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency.
Many Iranian officials and politicians interviewed for the occasion also said Mr Ahmadinejad's expression of support for Lebanon's national unity showed that Tehran would not deal with its regional enemies by fighting a proxy war through sympathetic factions in Lebanon. "If by this visit Mr Ahmadinejad meant to confront various Lebanese [political and religious] groups he wouldn't have made telephone calls to Arab leaders such as the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria before taking the trip [to Lebanon]," the chairman of the parliament's foreign policy committee, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, was quoted by IRNA as saying.
mprothero@thenational.ae
* Additional reporting by Maryam Sinaiee in Tehran and by Agence France-Presse and Reuters
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
RACE CARD AND SELECTIONS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,200m
5,30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,200m
6pm: The President’s Cup Listed (TB) Dh380,000 1,400m
6.30pm: The President’s Cup Group One (PA) Dh2,500,000 2,200m
7pm: Arabian Triple Crown Listed (PA) Dh230,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
The National selections
5pm: RB Hot Spot
5.30pm: Dahess D’Arabie
6pm: Taamol
6.30pm: Rmmas
7pm: RB Seqondtonone
7.30pm: AF Mouthirah
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Men from Barca's class of 99
Crystal Palace - Frank de Boer
Everton - Ronald Koeman
Manchester City - Pep Guardiola
Manchester United - Jose Mourinho
Southampton - Mauricio Pellegrino
