Khatami's three-day visit to Lebanon came as officials in Washington confirmed that U.S. and Iranian officials held talks in Geneva, Switzerland, in an attempt to ease tensions between the two countries. 

The United States has called on Lebanon and Syria to rein in anti-Israeli groups operating on their soil, including the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. Iran, a Shiite-majority country, is the militant group' main financial backer. 

Khatami was met at Beirut airport by Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and Hezbollah deputy head Sheik Naim Kassem. Hezbollah is seen as a legitimate resistance movement in Lebanon, where it fought Israeli troops occupying southern Lebanon for 18 years until the Israelis withdrew in May 2000. 

During talks with Lahoud, Khatami reaffirmed Iran's support for "legitimate resistance" against Israeli occupation, according to a statement released by Lahoud's office. 

"Iran will always stand by Lebanon and will support it in its struggle to liberate the remaining parts of its occupied territories," Khatami said. After their withdrawal from south Lebanon, Israeli troops remained in a disputed border area known as Chebaa Farms, which Lebanon claims. 

Khatami also said "threats and accusations" made by U.S. officials against Lebanon and Syria were "unacceptable and invalid," according to the statement. 

Later, Khatami met separately with Hariri and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. He did not meet with any Hezbollah officials, other than the greeting at the airport. 

"We discussed the situation in Iraq and in the Middle East region and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Viewpoints were identical," Hariri told reporters. 

Asked if the talks with Khatami covered U.S. calls concerning Hezbollah, Hariri said: "We discussed the situation in general and the sensitive stage through which the region is currently passing and the need for coordination among the region's states in order to cross this stage safely and in peace." 

Khatami goes next to Syria on Wednesday. Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon, supports Hezbollah politically but denies channeling arms to it. 

Khatami's visit was the first by a president of mostly Shiite Muslim Iran to Lebanon since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, though Khatami paid a visit a few months before being elected in 1997. Shiites are the largest sect in Lebanon, an estimated 1.2 million people out of a 3.5 million population. 

As Khatami's convoy entered downtown Beirut, tens of thousands of Shiite Muslims whistled, cheered and waved yellow flags of Hezbollah, the green flags of the rival Shiite group Amal, as well as Iranian and Lebanese flags. 

Women threw rose petals as he passed through southern Beirut's Shiite-dominated suburbs. Other well-wishers held aloft pictures of the reformist Iranian president. At one point, the black-turbaned Khatami stopped his limousine and walked among the crowd, smiling broadly and waving. 

Khatami and Lahoud signed six bilateral agreements, including a $50 million loan from Iran to finance various projects in Lebanon. 

Khatami also met with Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, of the Maronite Catholic Church, who said the Iranian president wanted to promote "a dialogue of civilizations and (religious) coexistence." 

Khatami said in Lebanon's As-Safir newspaper that coalition troops should leave Iraq immediately and allow the "formation of a popular government." 

After Saddam Hussein's ouster, Washington accused Damascus of granting refuge to members of his government and accused Iran of backing anti-U.S. demonstrations among Iraqi Shiites. 

Iran and Syria denied the allegations.