Kantar arrived in Iran on Wednesday and expressed his gratitude to Tehran for its role in backing the Lebanese and Palestinian "resistance" to Israel.

"This country has played a crucial role in supporting the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance and I am here to express my deepest gratitude to this country," Kantar told AFP.

He also said he wished to meet Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and "shake his hand."

Kantar was released in July 2008 as part of a prisoner swap between Lebanon and Israel.

Described as a monster in Israel where he was convicted for killing three locals, including a policeman and a four-year-old girl in a notorious attack nearly three decades ago, Kantar is considered a hero in some circles in Lebanon.

Iranian officials from Ahmadinejad's office said Kantar will be honoured by the president at a function in Tehran.

Iran's hardline president has drawn global outrage for calling for Israel to be wiped off the map and describing the Holocaust as a myth.

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