Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon that includes a meeting with Hezbollah and a trip to the border with Israel is a "provocative" step, DPA reported according to the White House.
"He continues his provocative ways, even as he leaves his county in further economic stress and turmoil as a result of his actions that have led to international sanctions that are having a great impact," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
Gibbs was referring to UN Security Council sanctions placed on Iran over its alleged refusal to come clean about its nuclear activities suspected by the West as intended to develop a bomb. Tehran says the programme is purely for peaceful purposes.
Ahmadinejad met with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and declared his support for a strong Lebanon, and planned to meet later with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. He planned to visit the border area near Israel on Thursday.
The United States lists Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and sees it as Tehran's proxy for undermining Lebanese democracy and promoting anti-Israeli views. Hezbollah militants fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006.
Ahmadinejad's meeting with Nasrallah "also suggests that Hezbollah values its allegiance with Iran over its allegiance to Lebanon," Gibbs said.