It is no strange thing for the Iranian President to visit Lebanon in response to an official invitation. Iran is a great country in the region, and it is in Lebanon's interest to have relations of amicable nature and cooperation with it. Lebanon had already celebrated the visit of an Iranian President named Mohammad Khatami in 2003. At the time, the visitor had grabbed the opportunity to say to the crowd gathered in the Sports City Stadium in Beirut: “Lebanon is a jewel that shines in the darkness of the night. Its brightness harms the eyes of darkness lovers, so they try to destroy this jewel with the hammer of aggression and occupation.” When President Mahmud Ahmadinejad steps out of his plane at the Beirut airport today, many facts and scenes will come to the mind of observers. While it is true that Khatami and Ahmadinejad both emanate from the cloak of the revolution, they each come from a different place in it, with two distinct approaches. It would be no exaggeration to say that Ahmadinejad's Iran is different from Khatami's Iran in terms of balances under the tutelage of the Guide, its relations both domestically and on the foreign level, its image and its method of achieving its long-term program. Moreover, there is a great difference between the two visits. America today is not the same America of seven years ago, in regard to itself, the world, and the region. As for the Arab situation, it is no more possible to hide its fragility. Also, the diminished Arab role in the region has become an accepted fact. As for the jewel that Khatami visited and saw shining, it heralds today a transformation into a reactor that radiates divorce, sectarianism, and divisions. Indeed, the jewel has suffered from the winds triggered by the decision to execute Saddam Hussein's regime and then the man himself, and is still suffering from the winds triggered by the decision to execute Rafik Hariri in one of Beirut's streets – of course, while taking into account the differences between the two locations and the two men. Ahmadinejad's visit will stir up a great deal of interest. The man himself is interesting anyway. He stimulates the enthusiasm of those who sit with him on the carpet of resistance and opposition, as well as those who are attracted by his aggressive method and his preference of the lexicon of a warrior to that of a president. He does not really abide by international customs or the rules of dialogue. He also stimulates all those who consider that the great disaster is caused by the influence of the Great Satan in the world and the region, and its support to the “cancerous tumor” to which Ahmadinejad only sees the solution of extraction. Ahmadinejad is also a source of concern – the concern of those who consider that the transformation of Iran into a great country in the region can only take place at the expense of Arabs; that Iran wants both the role and the bomb; that the management of Tehran of what it considers to be its cards in the region threatens to destabilize governments and entities; that Ahmadinejad leads an adventure which the region is unable to bear; and that the great countries will not allow for the establishment in the vicinity of oil fields of a great country that is addicted to the export of the revolution and that strives to sleep on a nuclear pillow. Ahmadinejad's visit was preceded by facts that cannot be ignored. In 2006, Hezbollah hit the Israeli towns with rockets that were either made in Iran or funded by it. Since that day, Iran has announced its presence on the ground on the Arab-Israeli conflict line and the Mediterranean. Perhaps Ahmadinejad's tour in south Lebanon tomorrow aims to be a reminder that the calmness on the southern front needs Iranian consent. Another truth that Arabs need to acknowledge, even if they have the right to reject it, is the fact that it is impossible to form a government in Iraq without obtaining beforehand an Iranian certificate of good conduct for its president and its balances. The same applied to Lebanon, albeit to a lesser degree. Here too, there are two issues that cannot be ignored: Iran long embosomed the forces opposing Saddam Hussein and established close ties with them. Also, Iran supported Hezbollah's resistance in the south of Lebanon and contributed along with others to the post-war reconstruction. Ahmadinejad's appearance before the region and the world from Beirut after Baghdad is no simple matter. It will certainly trigger many questions about Lebanon's regional and international position in the coming phase, and about the balances inside Lebanon, and the fate of the Arab role in the region. Many countries will observe this role, which extends from the Strait of Hormuz to the south of Lebanon. Historically, there are precedents which show that demanding great roles with aggressive words sometimes accelerates the start of big wars. Ahmadinejad is a difficult visitor who does not tame his lexicon to fit the locations. He is neither bothered by the echo of his declarations nor by the storms that follow his visits. I saw him in New York, where he appeared to be a difficult visitor, and also in Istanbul. He also seemed difficult when he visited Saddam Hussein's country. We will await his declarations in Beirut. We hope that Lebanon will not be sanctioned because of his visit, and that enrichment will not speed up in the Lebanese reactor after it.
