Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday praised his allies in the Lebanese Hezbollah movement for standing up to Israel, adding that Lebanon was a "school of resistance and perseverance against tyrants," - a reference to the U.S. and Israel.
Addressing a huge rally in the Hezbollah-controlled south Beirut suburbs on the first day of a planned two-day visit to the country, Ahmadinejad described Israel as a "Zionist entity" that embodies "the deception of the capitalist world order and materialistic ideas."
"The only solution to the Palestinian issue is for the invaders (Israelis) of the occupied land to leave, and give the Palestinians their rights and return all the refugees to their original land," Ahamdinejad told the cheering crowd.
He called on the United Nations to carry out its mission and force Israel to abide by the international laws and resolutions.
Addressing the U.S. administration, Ahmadinejad said: "The best solution for you is to withdraw from Afghanistan and Iran and apologize to their people."
He also called for the release of four Iranian diplomats kidnapped in Lebanon during the 1982 Israeli invasion.
"We have confirmed information that those four Iranian diplomats are now in Israeli jails and we want them to be released," he added.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah greeted Ahmadinejad via video link and thanked him for his support.
"In Lebanon, Iran wants what the Lebanese people want: to be an independent and sovereign people, present in the regional balance. There is no other Iranian project," Nasrallah said.
"The West has set itself against him (Ahmadinejad) because he says that Israel is an illegitimate state and must disappear," Nasrallah stressed.
Nasrallah's remarks came few hours after loyalists to the western-backed majority coalition issued an open letter to the Iranian president, accusing him of meddling in Lebanese affairs.
"You are attempting to interfere, just like others that came before you, in our affairs, where foreign interference was only used to manipulate Lebanon internally," the letter said, in reference to Syria.
Ahmadinejad reportedly met with Nasrallah before the rally, according to Lebanese media.
The Iranian leader, who arrived earlier Wednesday, held talks with Lebanese officials and signed 13 bilateral agreements.