Iran has developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of international sanctions and embargoes that have barred it from importing many weapons
Iran is waiting for Lebanon to show a desire to accept its military assistance, Iran’s foreign minister said on Sunday, reiterating an offer of support to the US-backed Lebanese military.
Mohammad Javad Zarif, whose government backs the powerful Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah, was speaking at Beirut airport at the start of his first visit to Lebanon since its new government was formed late last month.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said last week he was ready to secure air defence systems for the Lebanese army from Iran to confront Israeli warplanes and to secure “everything it wants to be the strongest army in the region”.
Iran has developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of international sanctions and embargoes that have barred it from importing many weapons.
Asked if Iran was ready to offer military aid, Zarif said: “We always have this type of readiness and we announced on other occasions that this tendency exists in Iran but we are waiting for this desire to exist on the Lebanese side.”