Iranian Deputy FM Ali Bagheri Visits South Lebanon, Meets Hizbullah Officials, Receives Israeli Helicopter Fragment As Souvenir

Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV aired a report on Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri's visit to south Lebanon and the border with Israel on February 10, 2023. According to the report, Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani led the visit and was welcomed by the head of Hizbullah in the Jabal Amil area, Abdallah Nasser. The delegation toured the Iran Garden in Maroun Al-Ras and inspected the views into northern Israel. Bagheri praised Hizbullah for liberating "the land from occupation," providing Lebanon with "stability, calm, and capabilities." The delegation commemorated IRGC Qods Force senior officer Hesam Khoshnevis (aka Hassan Shateri), head of the Iranian Committee for the Reconstruction of Lebanon, who was killed in an airstrike attributed to Israel in 2013 and Qods Force commander General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by the U.S. in 2020.

Reporter: "Iranian Deputy FM Ali Bagheri concluded his visit to south Lebanon with a view of the occupied Palestinian lands from the Iran Garden in Maroun Al-Ras. He arrived there at the head of a diplomatic delegation, led by Iranian Ambassador to Beirut Mojtaba Amani. He was met by the head of Hizbullah in the Jabal Amir area, Abdallah Nasser, and regional activists.

"They started the visit by laying a wreath at the monument commemorating the head of the Iranian Committee for the Reconstruction of Lebanon, the martyr Hesam Khoshnevis. It was followed by a tour of the different parts of the garden, which was established following Lebanon's victory in the June 2006 aggression."

Ali Bagheri: "The Islamic resistance was able to liberate the land from the occupation, and provide Lebanon with stability, calm, and capabilities. All these historic achievements would have been impossible if not for the sacrifices of the martyrs of the resistance, and first and foremost, by the martyr Abbas Musawi."

Reporter: "At the garden, the Iranian guest and his accompanying delegation heard a detailed explanation about the region, and about how the mujahideen of the Islamic resistance confront the operations of the enemy in the area, and the Zionist spread across [the border].

"Then he planted an olive tree, which was named after the martyr and commander Hajj Qasem Soleimani.

"Hajj [Abdallah] Nasser gave him a souvenir, debris from an Israeli helicopter, downed by the resistance near the village of Yater.

"Another souvenir was awarded to Ambassador Amani — a piece from a Merkava tank destroyed by the Resistance, in the village of Ayta ash Shab. During the June [2006] aggression. Then, Nasser himself was awarded the shield of the Iranian Embassy in Lebanon. From south Lebanon, this was a report by Samer Hajj Ali for Al-Manar TV."