Lebanon asks Iran to explain Guards' presence

BEIRUT — President Michel Sleiman demanded on Monday that Iran provide an official explanation as to why members of its Revolutionary Guards have been sent to Lebanon.

On Sunday, the Guards commander said members of his elite special operations unit, the Quds Force, were in Syria and Lebanon but only to provide "counsel."

"President Sleiman asked for an official explanation from the relevant Iranian authorities," his office said.

General Mohammed Ali Jafari, commander of the Guards, said on Sunday that "a number of Quds Force members are present in Syria and Lebanon... We provide (these countries) with counsel and advice, and transfer experience to them."

"But it does not mean that we have a military presence there," he added.

The Quds Force is tasked with carrying out operations outside Iran — official and clandestine.

It has several thousand members, and it is especially active in the Middle East, according to Western analysts. — AFP