Salehi: Zionists Behind Beirut Bomb Blast

Tehran, Oct 22, IRNA - Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi expressed condolence to the bereaved families of the victims in Beirut bomb blast, saying that Zionists have masterminded the bombing to make the current situation more complicated. Salehi made the remarks in a meeting with Foreign Minister of Central African Republic (CAR) Antoine Gambi in Tehran on Sunday. "Immediately after the exposition I spoke with the Lebanese foreign minister over phone to express condolences," he said. Expressing regret on the incident, Salehi said it should become clear who benefit from the bitter incident. The Zionist regime is the biggest enemy of the region, he said, adding that a drone which penetrated deep inside the Israeli airspace and caused panic for the regime revealed the weakness of the regime for its people. To divert public opinion from the event, the Zionists committed a big crime and killed and injured many people in Lebanon, he said. The Lebanese people and political parties are well aware of such developments, he said, adding that there is no doubt that Lebanon as a progressive country in the Arab world with a brilliant cultural background can never be a target of such sedition and plots. Many are now doing their best to stage a civil war and political turbulence in Lebanon, he said, adding that this will be thwarted through vigilance of the Lebanese government and political parties. He expressed the hope that the Lebanese officials as well as political parties would tolerate such bitter events and never let the ill-wishers disrupt order in the country. The Islamic Republic spares no effort to help the Lebanese government and its people, he said. On Iran's nuclear program, he said based on the latest talks it is expected that new rounds of talks between Iran and G5+1 would be held in late November. On recent allegations raised by New York Times on probable direct talks between Iran and the United States of America after US presidential election, he said there would be no such direct talks between the two sides.