Iran objected Friday to Interior Minister Nouhad Machnoukˈs recent comments in which he blamed Syrian and Iranian interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs for a wave of violence that has hit the country in recent months

Iran objected Friday to Interior Minister Nouhad Machnoukˈs recent comments in which he blamed Syrian and Iranian interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs for a wave of violence that has hit the country in recent months, IRNA reported.
 
Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi submitted an official complaint to Prime Minister Tammam Salam over Machnoukˈs comments, which were made during the Arab Interior Ministers gathering in southern Morocco’s Marakesh earlier this week.

Roknabadi said that Salam assured him that Machnouk’s statement does not reflect the position of the Lebanese government. Salam also expressed keenness to preserve ties with Iran, the Iranian envoy said.

Machnouk was quoted as saying that Hezbollah’s military intervention in the Syrian conflict has made the Lebanese complicit alongside Bashar Assad’s regime in the shedding of Syrian blood. He also claimed that Syrian intelligence services were behind the emergence of militant groups in the north.