Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in southern Lebanon on Thursday for a mass rally organized by his allies in the radical Hezbollah movement, DPA reported
Thousands of Hezbollah followers, carrying Iranian and Hezbollah flags, gathered at a stadium in Bint Jbeil, a village which was destroyed during the July 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The crowd chanted "khosh Amadeed," a welcome in Farsi, as the Iranian leader appeared. In a sign of welcome, shops, businesses and schools closed in villages near Bint Jbeil, 4 kilometres from the border with Tehran's arch-foe Israel.
Signs on billboards read: "The south welcomes the protector of the resistance."
"We are here to greet our great backer and supporter the head of Iran," a follower of Hezbollah told the German Press Agency, dpa.
Children clad in military fatigues were among those attending the rally.
"I want to see the Iranian president in person and kiss him," said Ali Bazzi, a nine-year old Hezbollah fan.
Across the border in Israel, military patrols watched the situation from armoured cars.
Tight security measures were in force around the stadium where Ahmadinejad was to make a speech during which he is expected to lash out at Israel.
The Iranian leader's visit has caused a controversy both inside Lebanon and at international level.
Washington and Israel called the visit a provocation while Lebanese officials who oppose Iran's policy in the region have called on the Iranian leader to stop meddling in Lebanon's affairs.
The Iranian leader is also to visit the southern Lebanese village of Qana where 105 civilians were killed and more than 100 injured when Israeli artillery shelled a UN compound where the civilians had taken shelter. Israel claimed the 1996 incident was an accident, but this was disputed by UN investigators.
Qana also witnessed another tragedy during the July 2006 war when Israeli jets bombed a building, killing around 24 civilians, most of them children.
On the first day of his visit Wednesday, Ahmadinejad praised his allies in the region, threatened Israel and the United States, and called on some Arab countries to grant freedom for people to protest against Western nations.