TEHRAN   - Iran and Syria do not supply weapons to Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, whatever the accusations made by Washington and its charge of terrorism against the Shiite Muslim movement, the group's Tehran-based envoy said in an interview.

Abdallah Safieddine told AFP the countries' support was political and moral and that neither Tehran nor Damascus would decide the future of his movement, one of the main active forces in conflict with Israel.

"In Lebanon we can buy anything, except perhaps aircraft. We don't need to arm ourselves from Tehran. Why bring weapons from Iran via Syria when we can procure them anywhere in the world," he said.

Hezbollah, and its Shiite ally Amal, swept to victory in the second stage of Lebanon's four-part general election earlier this month and claim this as a mandate for keeping the weapons that the United Nations demands it surrender.

Last month, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said his movement had more than 12,000 rockets, including Katyushas, which could strike the north of Israel, the main US ally in the Middle East.

The group's fighters, deployed along the south Lebanon border with Israel, were credited with forcing the Israeli army to pull out of south Lebanon in May 2000 after a 22-year-long occupation.

Hezbollah, because of its resistance role, was the only militia allowed to keep its weapons at the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

There have since been calls for the Lebanese army to take Hezbollah's place in the south, a move rejected by the group which cites its election victory as further proof of support for its stand.

The June 5 vote, said the Hezbollah representative, was "a plebiscite for the resistance".

That Hezbollah and former rival Amal won all 23 seats in southern Lebanon comes as no surprise, as the region's population is majority Shiite.

Lebanese newspapers say Hezbollah also sees the people's vote as welcome support just as the backing of its powerful ally Syria has been diluted by Damascus having to pull its troops out of Lebanon in April.

Safiaddine insists that Tehran's backing for Hezbollah is political.

"The Islamic republic supports the resistance (against Israel), the same as other countries, movements and parties which are working to liberate and defend their territory and the Palestinian cause," he said.

In his office, alongside a portrait of Nasrallah, are military uniforms and weapons in showcases, described by Safiaddine as the "spoils" of war taken from Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon and brought to Tehran "to show our gratidue to Iran."

He also praised Iran for its "moral and material help to the families of the martyrs (Hezbollah fatalities) and to the organisations looking after orphans and the needy."

Speaking of US pressure on both Syria and Iran, both of which deny Washington's claims that they support terrorism, Safiaddine said American efforts would fail to weaken Hezbollah.

Questioned on the possibility that the victor in Iran's presidential election next Friday might seek to open ties with Washington and offer to end backing for Hezbollah, Safiaddine said he was "confident that the cause of the people's struggle is sacred for all (Iranian) candidates."

Frontrunner Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president, has said a "new chapter" in relations with the United States would be possible if he won the presidency.

But he has also made clear his view that Iran had done enough to show its goodwill and it was up to the United States to make a move that would thaw relations frozen for over a quarter of a century.

Mohammad Sadek al-Husseini, a specialist in Iranian-Arab affairs, said Rafsanjani "will not accept such a trade-off but will act intelligently, using the question of Hezbollah's disarmament as the last card in negotiations" with Washington.

Safieddine commented: "Hezbollah's future will be decided only by the movement and by no other party."

Copyright © 1999-2005 Lenanonwire^®.com. All rights reserved.