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| 26/05/2008 Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Monday welcomed the election of Lebanon's new president as a first step toward stability in the country and denounced US meddling in the region. Mottaki, who spoke before leaving Beirut where he attended a parliament session on Sunday to elect army Chief Michel Sleiman president, said Iran had stood by a Qatari mediation to end Lebanon's long-running political crisis.
When the talks had stumbled in the Qatari capital, Doha, Tehran had urged the ruling bloc and the opposition to continue with dialogue, he said. "The first fruit borne (from the Doha deal) has been the election of Sleiman," Mottaki told reporters. Mottaki brushed aside accusations that Tehran meddled in Lebanese affairs pointing the finger instead at Washington. "US President George W. Bush is the one meddling in Lebanese affairs when he encourages the ruling bloc to elect a president with a simple majority," he said.
He was referring to statements by the US administration which had said it would back the ruling coalition in Lebanon if it went ahead with a simple majority vote in parliament to end a presidential void. "The Americans must correct their mistakes in the region and we must teach them to listen," Mottaki said. Sleiman was elected president with 118 votes in the 127-member parliament.
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