President Michel Suleiman said Friday he has asked Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil to seek clarifications from Iran regarding remarks by one of its top military officials about southern Lebanon, as the cabinet approved 15 top tier administrative appointments.

 

“During the national dialogue session (on Monday), a statement attributed to Iranian Revolutionary Guard officials was discussed and the foreign minister was asked to seek a clarification from the Iranian side,” Suleiman said during a cabinet session in Baabda.

 

On Saturday, Iran’s Fars news agency quoted Gen. Yahya Safavi — a senior military aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — as saying that “Iran’s influence and clout has now stretched to the Mediterranean coasts and its line of defense is now in southern Lebanon.”

 

Suleiman also addressed the presidential and parliamentary elections, stressing “the need to hold them on time and to preserve equal power-sharing (among Christians and Muslims) under electoral rules that eliminate sectarian politicians and not the sects.” [Link]