Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Photo: Wikipedia.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, commonly touted as a moderate in the West, said that Tehran supports all anti-Zionist countries which are at the forefront of fighting Israel, Iran’s Islamist dissemination mouthpiece Mehr News Agency reported on Monday.

Rouhani made his comments in a meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, praising Lebanon for being a source of “regional stability,” due to its presence on the front line of “resistance against Zionist invasion.”

Rouhani stressed that when Iran considers which countries to support, it gives priority to those countries, like Lebanon, which are at the forefront of the fight against Israel, and reaffirmed Tehran’s backing of Lebanon’s “resistance movement,” a euphemism for Hezbollah.

Rouhani also said Israel is the root cause of many disasters in the Middle East, calling the Jewish state one of the three main problems plaguing the region, the other two being “foreign countries’ interference in the internal affairs of the delicate Middle East region, as well as violence and terrorism.”

Bassil, in turn, praised Iran for its lasting support of Lebanon in its fight against Israel, stressing that stability and sovereignty were the keys to victory against the Jewish state.

The Lebanese foreign minister also pointed to what he called the “common interests” of Israel and the various terrorist movements threatening the region, claiming, “Iran has set the ground to combat terrorism; we need to work together in this path.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran can be the messenger of democracy in the region due to its positions,” concluded Bassil.