KHIAM, Lebanon: Iran’s Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Sayyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini blamed Wednesday the United States for the 10-month-long spate of unrest in Syria, but praised political change in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya as a result of popular upheavals. Hosseini spoke to reporters during a tour of Lebanese towns and villages near the border with Israel. The tour included a visit to the Hezbollah museum in the village of Mlita and the Fatima Gate in the village of Kfar Kila.

Hosseini, accompanied by Sheikh Nabil Qaouk, the deputy head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, also visited the Khiam prison, a former detention center run by Israeli-allied militiamen during the Israeli occupation of south Lebanon.

Responding to journalists’ questions near the Fatima Gate, Hosseini said: “We are witnessing a major change in the Arab world whose signs have emerged in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. We hope that these new signs in the Arab world will be the beginning of a major change in favor of the region’s peoples and in favor of the Muslim cultural development in this region.”

He said the situation in Syria was different. “We see that Syria and Lebanon are in the same trench against the Israeli and American confrontation. America is trying today to tamper with Syria,” Hosseini said. “Therefore, the situation is different. Reforms have begun in Syria.”

Hosseini told The Daily Star that Iran is ready to provide its resources to help Lebanon explore the gas and oil reserves in its territorial waters.

Earlier Wednesday, Hosseini met in with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah.