Speaker Nabih Berri criticized on Tuesday the international community’s “double standards” in dealing with the Israeli entity, accusing it of having hidden agendas in the Middle East.

Speaker Nabih Berri criticized on Tuesday the international community’s “double standards” in dealing with the Israeli entity, accusing it of having hidden agendas in the Middle East.

He said before the Armenian parliament: “International decision-makers are placing all Arab regimes in the position of the accused in order to subject them to their will.”

“They are seeking to weaken Arab states, one country at a time,” he added.

“Of course we don’t oppose granting the people their rightful demands for democracy and transparency, but we cannot but confront powers” seeking to manipulate these demands for their own interests, Speaker continued.

Addressing Palestine’s U.N. bid to be recognized as an independent state, Berri remarked: “The developments in the region indicate that a long time will pass before stability is reached in the region.”

“The Middle East will not witness peace and the Palestinians will continue on having the right to keep a comprehensive popular resistance, as do the Lebanese against Israeli violations,” he stressed.

“Syria also has the right to maintain its resistant positions in attempting to restore the occupied Golan Heights,” he noted.

“I had previously warned that Israel is seeking to evade its obligations towards fair and comprehensive peace … and facts have demonstrated that peace that is not based on justice is doomed to fail,” he stated.

“Lebanon and Syria are committed to the basic principles and values that can guarantee their national sovereignty and right to take advantage of their natural resources,” he remarked.

Given Israel’s ongoing violations of international resolutions, Lebanon has the right to hang on to its resistance, Berri noted.

“Abandoning the Resistance would invite Israel to occupy our land,” he cautioned.

The speaker also welcomed the negotiations between Armenia and Turkey that were launched in 2008, saying: “We object neighboring countries’ efforts to overpower the other and we oppose meddling in the internal affairs of any state.”

“Attempting to create sectarian strife in Syria, or any other state, will negatively impact the region and pave the way for its division,” he warned.

“All sides should have an interest in making Syria a model country for the Middle East through the establishment of a modern democratic system there that can confront Israeli aggression and provide the necessary balance to achieve fair and comprehensive peace in the region,” he stressed.

On Lebanese-Armenian ties, the speaker noted that despite the solid ties between the peoples of the two nations, the economic and commercial ties between the two states do not reflect the depth of the relations between Lebanese and Armenians.

Berri, accompanied by MPs Mohammed Raad and Arthur Nazarian, began a three-day visit to Armenia on Monday.