Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has welcomed the election of his Lebanese counterpart Joseph Aoun after the country went more than two years without a head of state, saying unity will “defeat” Israel, AFP reports.

“There is no doubt that reinforcement of stability and unity will defeat the greed of the Zionist enemy against Lebanese territory,” Pezeshkian said in a message to Aoun published by the official IRNA news agency after his election.