The chief of Lebanon's radical Shiite movement Hezbollah praised Saturday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and thanked him for supporting resistance movements in Lebanon and against Israel, dpa reported.
Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah's comments come ahead of Ahmadinejad's scheduled October 13-14 visit, during which he will hold talks with Lebanese officials and tour areas on the Lebanese-Israeli border.
"Iran was not stingy in its support of the resistance movements (Hezbollah and Hamas), especially in Lebanon and Palestine," he said.
During Ahmadinejad's term dangerous events had occurred, and "his presence in the presidency helped greatly in presenting greater support to the resistance movements," Nasrallah said in a speech in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Nasrallah stressed that after the July 2006 war between the Hezbollah and Israel, Iran gave a vast amount of aid to Lebanon, and helped in rebuilding nearly 20,000 housing units which were completely destroyed in the 33-day war.
"Iran also helped in repairing 129,000 houses which were partially destroyed and gave some 34,000 families that needed aid," Nasrallah added.
Iran is the main financial backer and arms supplier for Hezbollah.
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