Hawzah News Agency- Sheikh al-Khatib said his visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq lasted eleven days, during which he took part in the 40th International Islamic Unity Conference held in Tehran and Mashhad and held a series of meetings with official, political and religious figures in both countries, including Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. He concluded his trip with a meeting with Sheikh Hammam Baqir Hammoudi, head of the "Bashir Iraq" parliamentary bloc, briefing him on developments in Lebanon, particularly in the south, amid continued Israeli aggression.
"We had a successful trip to the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Iraq, where we participated in the 40th International Islamic Unity Conference at the invitation of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought," Sheikh al-Khatib said. "We delivered a speech at the opening session in which we discussed the thought of the martyred Imam Khamenei, and we took part in the conference meetings, where we were honored to be appointed to its supreme council and academic body."
"On the sidelines of the conference, we held a series of meetings with a number of Iranian political and religious figures in Tehran, Qom and Mashhad, and we had similar meetings in Iraq in Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala, most notably with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi," he added. "We briefed these figures on the situation in Lebanon, especially in the south, where Israeli aggression continues, and on the suffering our people are enduring there. We called for action on all fronts to stop this aggression, secure an Israeli withdrawal, and enable our people to return to their towns and villages."
"We sensed full readiness among these officials to help on all political, economic and social fronts, just as we sensed their efforts toward Lebanon's unity with all its components," he said. "We hope that in the coming phase this readiness will be translated into reality and will lift this suffering from our people."
In conclusion, Sheikh al-Khatib renewed his call on Lebanon's leadership to restore relations with the Islamic Republic to their former level, particularly at the diplomatic level and by resuming direct flights between Beirut and Tehran, citing the hardship Lebanese and Iranians endure in traveling between the two countries.
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