By Sami Moubayed — My Catbird Seat –

During his visit to Beirut last week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who presented him with a rifle captured from an Israeli soldier during the war of 2006, as a token of appreciation for Iran’s support for the Lebanese resistance. The Lebanese University, for its part, presented Ahmadinejad with an honorary PhD. The two presents, packed in the Iranian president’s suitcase as he headed back to Tehran, sum up what the two faces of Lebanon are all about.

Ahmadinejad’s visit to Lebanon has sparked off loud debate within Lebanon and clearly provoked the United States, although this is not the first time an Iranian president has visited Beirut and come so close to its borders with Israel.

Back in May 2003, his predecessor Mohammad Khatami was given a massive welcome by tens of thousands of Lebanese when he landed in Beirut for a three-day visit. Khatami, back then, was no less committed to Hezbollah than Ahmadinejad is today. The US and Israel were no less hostile to Khatami — who is only now described by the US media as a reformer — than they are to Ahmadinejad today. The Lebanese press back then hailed the visit — being the first in bilateral relations — as a milestone towards improving Iranian-Lebanese relations. The crowds cheered at Khatami’s entourage as he drove through the suburbs of Beirut, being the Hezbollah stronghold, on his way to the Phoenicia Intercontinental Hotel.

Lebanon’s three leaders, President Emile Lahoud, Speaker Nabih Berri, and the late Rafik Hariri hailed Khatami’s visit, which they hoped, would “cement Lebanon’s role as a hub for resistance against Israel”.

Lahoud famously said that Lebanon “was proud of Khatami’s friendship”.

The highlight of the visit was a meeting between Khatami and Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir — followed by the Lebanese University granting the Iranian President an honorary PhD.

If all of this is déjà vu, why is the world furious over Ahmadinejad’s visit to Beirut?

When he was elected to power in the summer of 2005, the Iranian president, no doubt, was a breath of fresh air for Hezbollah, coming into office only six months after the Hariri assassination. They bet tremendously on Ahmadinejad to uphold resistance in Lebanon, as debate over Hezbollah’s arms began to surface in Lebanon, and sided with Syria as it engaged in an all-out ‘cold war’ with the George W. Bush administration.

Over the past five years, Ahmadinejad has done exactly that, explaining why Hezbollah was keen on showing how grateful it was. Precisely because of that strong bond between Ahmadinejad and Hezbollah, members of the March 14 Coalition were worried — to say the least — by the Iranian leader’s visit to Beirut.

It comes, after all, amidst speculation that the upcoming Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) will soon blame members of Hezbollah for Hariri’s assassination.

Although Iran has been remarkably quiet about Lebanese domestic politics, it will eventually put its full weight behind drowning the STL, either through official channels, via the Lebanese government in which Hezbollah and its allies are strongly represented, or through the Lebanese streets.

Protest rumours

There were rumours in Beirut that Hezbollah was planning to take to the streets shortly after Ahmadinejad’s visit, to force Sa’ad Hariri into calling for the scrapping of the STL, both in his capacity as son of the slain premier, and as the current prime minister of Lebanon.

Hariri, apparently, was clearly not getting the message, being that Hezbollah will not wait for the indictments to be issued in late 2010 for Hariri to take action — by then it will be too late.

To date, Hezbollah has tried pushing him into just that by blocking state funds for the STL, claiming that they are unconstitutional, while leading a publicity campaign aimed at branding the STL as an “Israeli project.” The March 14 Coalition fears that Hezbollah has gotten its “go ahead signal” from Ahmadinejad, to come out in full grandeur against the STL. If the Lebanese prime minister does not take action immediately, Hezbollah and its allies, making use of the 11 seats they have in government, will push for “no confidence” vote of the Hariri administration.

If that was worrying for the March 14 Coalition, what is more worrying is the fact that apparently Hariri has gotten the message loud and clear and will soon be acting accordingly, in order to keep his job as prime minister. On Sunday, Hariri informed his team that he will visit Tehran soon, at the invitation of Ahmadinejad. This visit is expected to coincide with a trip by Nasrallah to Riyadh. Hariri understands the significance of a phone conversation between Ahmadinejad and Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, only hours before the Beirut visit.

The Saudis, who have approved the visit, want peace and quiet in Lebanon — at any cost — warning Hariri that nothing should be allowed to spark off “another May 7″ as Nasrallah had previously threatened. They want to maintain the status quo that prevailed in 1990-2005, where Hariri — whether father or son — will command all of Lebanon, heralding economic reform, investment, and education, while standing as the ultimate leader of the Sunnis, only if he accepts that he has to “protect and embrace” the arms of Hezbollah.

The young prime minister carefully incorporated that statement into his cabinet policy statement and will work on upholding it, in light of the Iran-Saudi Arabia understanding over Lebanon.

Sami Moubayed is editor-in-chief of Forward Magazine in Syria. This article appeared in Gulf News entitled, “Why Hariri has to hug Hezbollah” on October 18, 2010.