JERUSALEM (JTA) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, met by cheering crowds in Lebanon, said his country and Israel’s northern neighbor "endorse a bitter struggle against Zionist aggression."
Ahmadinejad arrived in Lebanon on Wednesday and immediately met with Lebanese President Michael Suleiman at the presidential palace.
During a joint news conference, Ahmadinejad said he felt "as though I am at home, in my homeland among my brothers."
He said his country supported Lebanon.
"We seek a unified, modern Lebanon, and we stand by the Lebanese government and people," Ahmadinejad said.
Ahmadinejad said that both Iran and Lebanon "object to the occupation and crimes of the Zionist enemy."
"We object to all the acts of aggression undertaken by the Zionist entity," he said. "We back a return by Palestinian refugees to their occupied homeland. We endorse a bitter struggle against Zionist aggression."
Ahmadinejad is scheduled to meet with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during his visit. Reports have said he will travel to Lebanon’s border with Israel and throw rocks toward the Jewish state.
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