Local Editor

In an interview with An-Nahar newspaper published on Thursday, Speaker Nabih Berri said "Lebanon [as a non-permanent member of UN Security Council] should not just abstain from voting on sanctions against Iran, it should strongly vote against" imposing sanctions on the country.

The US is making efforts to slap a fourth round of sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program, which Washington and its allies claim is a cover to build atomic weapons.

Berri said it is unfortunate that foreign officials who recently visited Lebanon "disregarded "Israel's" nuclear arsenal as threatening to Lebanon and the region, and instead wanted to know about Lebanon's position on Iran's nuclear program."

"All Arab and Islamic countries need to acquire nuclear weapons as long as "Israel" has them," the speaker said.

Berri said he found the results of the May 23 municipal and mukhtar elections in South Lebanon reassuring for his Amal Movement and Hizbullah.

The two parties formed an alliance last month ahead of the country's municipal race.