BEIRUT: The opposition March 14 coalition called on the Lebanese government Wednesday to draw international attention to the controversial remarks by a top Iranian official who said Iran had sent Revolutionary Guards to Lebanon and Syria.

March 14 urged the Lebanese government to raise this issue at the international level, “in order to safeguard Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty,” according to a statement issued at the end of the coalition's weekly meeting.

“The statement made by the Revolutionary Guards commander [Mohammad Ali Jaafari] is a flagrant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty,” March 14 said.

The coalition statement praised President Michel Sleiman for demanding official clarification from Tehran over Jaafari’s remarks Sunday that the Revolutionary Guards had sent high-level military advisers to Syria and Lebanon.

On a separate subject, it added that the protests called for by Hezbollah to condemn a U.S.-made film that insults Islam's Prophet Mohammad are "nothing but an obvious attempt to deflect attention from the crimes of the Syrian regime."

Hezbollah and the March 8 alliance of which it is a memeber support Syrian President Bashar Assad, while March 14 backs the Syrian opposition.