On July 28, 2006, the Iranian news agency Fars published a report on a meeting in Damascus between Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani and Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. Several days later, the Iranian regime issued a denial, stating that Larijani had not gone to Damascus at all. Apparently, the regime also ordered the rest of the Iranian media to deny that the meeting had taken place - even though it was the regime itself that had informed the media of the meeting in the first place. The regime claimed that a mistake had been made and that the Arab and Western media - which had also reported on the meeting - had confused this meeting with a Larijani-Nasrallah meeting during the previous week.

The following are the details:

Fars News Agency Reports on the Larijani-Nasrallah Meeting

The conservative Iranian news agency Fars reported on July 28, 2006: "Ali Larijani, who was meant to participate last Wednesday in a closed-door session of the Majlis [in Iran], cancelled his plans and left for Damascus. It is possible that Larijani's talks with Syrian officials focused on the recent developments in Lebanon. Similarly, it was reported that Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah had gone to Syria in order to be present [at this meeting]." [1]

Also, the Iranian Jahan-e Eqtesad daily cited Fars, reporting that the Larijani-Nasrallah meeting had taken place. [2]

Mehr, Aftab News Agencies Report on Larijani's Damascus Meeting With High-Ranking Syrian Officials

The Iranian news agencies Mehr and Aftab also reported that Larijani had met with high-ranking Syrian officials in Damascus, but did not say that he had met with Nasrallah. [3]

Official Iranian News Agency IRNA Denies the Meeting

Two days later, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi denied reports of the meeting, and noted that "Larijani did not go last week to Damascus [at all]." [4]

ISNA News Agency Denies Fars Report

The reformist Iranian students' news agency ISNA published a denial, by a high-ranking Iranian official, that Larijani had gone to Damascus and met with Nasrallah. ISNA reported: "A high-ranking [Iranian] official denied the report by some of the media in the region regarding the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council's trip to Syria and his meeting with the secretary-general of Hizbullah-Lebanon." [5]

It should be noted that although it published this denial, ISNA also mentioned reports from the Arab media stating that the meeting had indeed taken place. One of these, from the London Arabic-language daily Al-Hayat, said: "On July 26, 2006, Larijani paid a secret visit to Damascus which included two separate meetings: [one] with a delegation from Hamas, headed by [Hamas] political bureau head Khaled Mash'al, and attended by [Hamas Political Bureau Deputy Head Moussa] Abu Marzouq, [and the second] with [a delegation from] Islamic Jihad, headed by the organization's secretary general Ramadhan Abdallah Shalah." During this meeting, ISNA said, Larijani had told the leaders of the Palestinian organizations that he was "certain of Hizbullah's victory in the battle." [6]

Likewise, ISNA said that the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa had reported that "Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hizbullah in Lebanon, was present at this meeting." [7] On July 27, 2006, Al-Siyassa reported that "it is known from well-informed Syrian sources that the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, will arrive in Damascus today in order to participate in a meeting with [Syrian] President Bashar Al-Assad and Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, in order to discuss the possibility of continuing the war [as well as finding] a way to equip Hizbullah with Iranian weapons that will reach Syria continuously." [8]

ISNA reported also that the Saudi paper Al-Watan had denied that the meeting had taken place, based on statements by Iranian diplomats in Damascus.

Reformist News Website Sharq Online Exposes Conflicting Reports About the Meeting

The news website Sharq Online wrote about the conflicting reports regarding the Larijani-Nasrallah meeting, and exposed the Iranian attempt to deny that it had taken place. The website cited a top Iranian official who tried to explain away the denials by claiming that the media had confused this report with one concerning a meeting held the previous week. [9]