Iran reaffirms support for Lebanon truce resolution

TEHRAN – UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday reaffirmed support for a UN resolution on Lebanon and his determination to negotiate an end to Tehran’s nuclear standoff with the West.

Annan has been touring the Middle East seeking to shore up the ceasefire that halted a 34-day war in Lebanon between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas. UN Resolution 1701 drew up the terms for the ceasefire, including expanding an existing UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon and calling for an arms embargo on Hezbollah.After meeting Ahmadinejad, Annan said the Iranian president “reaffirmed his country’s support for the implementation of Resolution 1701 and agrees with me that we should do everything to strengthen the territorial integrity of Lebanon.”Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, speaking at the joint news conference, also said Iran was ready “to cooperate with the United Nations in resuming peace in Lebanon and on its borders.”Iran funded and armed Hezbollah in the 1980s but now says its support is primarily moral and political.However, it is still widely believed to be the group’s main arms supplier.Annan’s visit came just days after Tehran failed to meet a UN Security Council deadline to halt sensitive nuclear work which the United States says is aimed at producing a nuclear weapon but which Tehran says is to meet energy needs.”On the nuclear issue, the president reaffirmed to me Iran’s preparedness and determination to negotiate and find a solution to the crisis,” Annan told a news conference in Tehran.UN officials said Annan had also requested to meet Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the highest authority under the Islamic Republic’s system of clerical rule.However, no meeting had been scheduled by early Sunday so Annan was expected to leave Iran later on without seeing him.More than 500 Italian troops landed in south Lebanon by mid-morning yesterday from an expected 3 000 troops.Heavy equipment was expected later yesterday, a UN spokesman said.Nampa-ReutersUN Resolution 1701 drew up the terms for the ceasefire, including expanding an existing UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon and calling for an arms embargo on Hezbollah.After meeting Ahmadinejad, Annan said the Iranian president “reaffirmed his country’s support for the implementation of Resolution 1701 and agrees with me that we should do everything to strengthen the territorial integrity of Lebanon.”Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, speaking at the joint news conference, also said Iran was ready “to cooperate with the United Nations in resuming peace in Lebanon and on its borders.”Iran funded and armed Hezbollah in the 1980s but now says its support is primarily moral and political.However, it is still widely believed to be the group’s main arms supplier.Annan’s visit came just days after Tehran failed to meet a UN Security Council deadline to halt sensitive nuclear work which the United States says is aimed at producing a nuclear weapon but which Tehran says is to meet energy needs.”On the nuclear issue, the president reaffirmed to me Iran’s preparedness and determination to negotiate and find a solution to the crisis,” Annan told a news conference in Tehran.UN officials said Annan had also requested to meet Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the highest authority under the Islamic Republic’s system of clerical rule.However, no meeting had been scheduled by early Sunday so Annan was expected to leave Iran later on without seeing him.More than 500 Italian troops landed in south Lebanon by mid-morning yesterday from an expected 3 000 troops.Heavy equipment was expected later yesterday, a UN spokesman said.Nampa-Reuters