Nabih Berri:Iranian elections 'clear message to West'

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Monday that Iran’s parliamentary election gave a clear message to the West that Iranian people massively participated in the historical event. He made the remarks in a meeting with visiting Press Advisor to President Ahmadinejad and Managing Director of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in Beirut on Monday. In western countries, when 40 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots they describe it as a great success but the Iranians set a much higher record by registering a 60-percent participation, he said. They expect developments taking place in the region to reach Iran but recent results of Iran’s parliamentary election was a turning point showing their wrong calculations, he said. “If the Islamic Republic of Iran had not backed Lebanon, there would have been no no room for triumph of the Lebanese people over the Zionist regime,” he said. He also termed Iran, resistance movement in south Lebanon and Syria as three sides of a precious triangle and maintained that what is going on in Syria indicates efforts by the enemies to shatter this triangle. Relations between Iran and Lebanon particularly south Lebanon are rooted in the principles of Shiism and Islamic resistance, Berri said. Syria needs more time to restore tranquility, he said, adding that foreign countries will not be succeed in implementing their plans. There is no doubt that current development in Syria will leave impacts on Lebanon but there is no concrete evidence of possible fall of the Lebanese government, he said. Over half of developments taking place in the region have roots in media hype launched by western TV networks and media and this requires that the world of Islamic send their messages to the West through English language media, he said. Javanfekr, for his part conveyed the warm greetings of President Mahmaoud Ahmadinejad for the Lebanese parliament speaker and described Berri's assessment of Iran’s parliamentary election as rational. He also said the elections proved that the Iranian nation listens to their Supreme Leader. The enemies are in mistaken about Iran because they assumed that the Iranian people are afraid of sanctions and threats and thus would not take part in the parliamentary elections but as history testifies whenever they feel threatened they are more determined to confront their enemies unitedly and couragiously. 'As stated by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, we are now experiencing a historic event and countries like Iran and Lebanon are on the forefront of the campaign against the racist Zionist regime,' Javanfekr said. “My trip to Lebanon indicates that the two nations have similar fate and will stand shoulder to shoulder as before to attain their common goals,” Javanfekr said. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Javanfekr said Iran has a democratic system of government and despite political disputes all political groups and parties are committed to their common principles although the enemies do not understand this.