Khatami Slams Israeli Strikes on Syrian Targets in LebanonIranian President Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday strongly condemned Israel's air strikes against a Syrian military position in Lebanon, describing Israel as the biggest threat to the Muslim and Arab nations.In a meeting with visiting Saudi Interior Minister Nayef Ibn Abdul-Aziz, Khatami condemned the Israeli raids as "expansionism and violation of international laws." "Only under the auspices of solidarity among the Islamic countries and relying on common interests, would such threats posed to the Islamic world be thwarted," he stressed. On Monday morning, Israeli military airplanes raided a Syrian radar center in eastern Lebanon, killing three Syrian soldiers and injuring six others. The attack was in retaliation for the weekend attack by Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah, or Party of God, in the disputed Shebaa Farms on the Lebanese-Syrian-Israeli borders. Nayef, who arrived in Tehran on Sunday to sign a security cooperation treaty with Iran during his three-day visit, said his country would do whatever needed regarding the current Middle East crisis. He also criticized some countries' half-hearted handling of the crisis. In reaction to the Israeli strikes, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi Monday night talked with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabir al-Thani over phone, calling the U.N. and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to exert pressure on Israel and take urgent measures to support the Muslim nations in the region. Qatar is the current chairman of the 56-member OIC. |
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