BEIRUT, May 12: Cheering crowds greeted Iran’s President Mohammad Khatami in Beirut on Monday as he began a visit expected to deal with US demands to curb the Hezbollah.

Mr Khatami is the first Iranian leader since the 1979 revolution to visit Lebanon.

Lebanon’s president, prime minister and a Hezbollah delegation met President Khatami at the airport and crowds waved the flags of Lebanon, Iran and Hezbollah, which used Iranian aid to fight Israel’s 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon.—Reuters