Government officials contend that they're not given the credit they deserve for the reconstruction effort. They've been busy fighting armed Islamic radicals in northern Lebanon while locked in a political battle with their opponents that all but shut down the government.
A Siniora aide acknowledged that his government had been struggling to gain an edge in the public relations battle over the reconstruction, but must overcome the red tape and bureaucracy inherent to state-run projects.
"Some people are very good at pointing to the shortcomings of the government and highlighting their own accomplishments," Mohammed Shattah, a spokesman for Siniora, said of Iran's reconstruction efforts. "These are attempts to weaken the state by weakening its image. We think they're counterproductive and do not help the state to become stronger."
Iran is a Shiite Muslim majority country that is run by hard-line anti-U.S. clerics and politicians. It sees itself as the patron of Shiites around the world, including those in Lebanon, who make up a third to half of the population.
The government in Tehran strongly supported Hezbollah in the war with Israel last year, and pledged to help Lebanon recover from the damage.
Whenever the Lebanese government, nonprofit organizations or other donor nations have faltered, Iran and its ally Hezbollah, which dominates most of the municipal governments of the south, have quickly swooped in, residents and officials say.
For example, when Qatar slowed reconstruction efforts several months ago because of corruption worries, Iran quickly upped its contribution.
"The Qataris were saying a lot of the money was being wasted," said Ibrahim Said, a business owner in Bint Jbeil, a border town that was crushed by Israeli airstrikes during the closing days of the war. "Four months ago, there was a sudden halt in reconstruction, and the Iranians said, 'If you don't want to do it, we'll step in.' "
The head of Iran's reconstruction effort says his country has set no spending limit for Lebanon.
"Contrary to other countries, we did not decide on a fixed budget for the reconstruction of Lebanon," Hussam Khoshnevis said. "The Islamic Republic decided to pay as much as is needed on the ground."
Much of Iran's financial support is invisible. It is channeled through Hezbollah's charity organizations. Immediately following the war, the Shiite militant group paid as much as $12,000 for each destroyed home or apartment. A large portion of this money was believed to have originated in Iran.
