Following an official visit to Lebanon by the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale, the Iranian embassy in Beirut released an aggressive statement calling the US an “ISIS incubator which burned the green and the rotten through American financial, logistical and regional support.”

In the bizarrely worded rant, the Iranian embassy accused the US of seeking to “annihilate the resistance axis in the region and achieve the White House and its Zionist stepdaughter’s goals.”

The statement came as a response to comments made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a regional tour and those by Hale. Both vowed to step up efforts to counter Iran’s activities around the region and expel from Syria “every last Iranian boot.”

In simpler terms, the Iranian embassy also described the visit as “provocative”.

“Thanks to its wise leadership, its government, people, military and responsible resistance, Lebanon has become a force to be reckoned with in regional balances where it has become a bulwark against the dictations of others and its enemies, not allowing anyone any party to dictate wrong decisions to it.”

The Iranian statement went on to boast Iranian-Lebanese cooperation.

“The Islamic republic will not spare any effort to cooperate with the valiant Lebanese government and military, and the prideful resistance,” the statement read.

On his official visit, Hale said after a meeting with the Lebanese Prime Minister-designate, Saad Hariri, that the United States was pursuing “efforts to counter Iran’s dangerous activities around the region, including the financing and activities of proxy terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah.”

“It’s unacceptable to have a militia outside the control of the state and unanswerable to all the people of Lebanon, digging attack tunnels across the Blue Line into Israel, or assembling an arsenal of over 100,000 missiles with which to threaten regional stability,” Hale said.

He pledged continued support for the Lebanese military and security forces and said that while Lebanon has the right to defend itself, “that is the right of the Lebanese state alone.”

Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:51 - GMT 06:51