Iran's 'moderate' Khatami denounces Israel, backs Hizbullah attacks

NICOSIA -- President Mohammed Khatami, regarded as the hope for democratic change in Iran, appears to have ruled out any reconciliation with Israel.

Khatami was quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying Israel has never wanted peace in the Middle East. The president told Lebanese parliamentary speaker Nabi Berri that he supports the Hizbullah military campaign against Israel and Iran will continue to support the attacks.

The Iranian president said the "regular attacks by the Zionist regime on Lebanon and elsewhere is sufficient proof of the disinclination of the Zionist regime to peace." Khatami stressed the need for other Arab and Muslim states to "share the same feelings and policies in confrontation against Zionist atrocity."

Western diplomats and Israeli officials said Khatami's remarks are in line with their assessment that Iran will not change its policy toward Israel despite the reformist victory in Iranian parliamentary elections last month.

For his part, Berri invited Khatami to Beirut and thanked Iran for its support against Israel, particularly for the guerrilla campaign against Israel. Berri leads the Syrian-aligned Amal militia, a Shi'ite group that has been a rival of Hizbullah.

In New York, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker said the Clinton administration plans to increase pressure on Teheran to stop its strategic weapons programs. Walker told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on Tuesday that the administration will also increase pressure to free 10 Jews still being held by the Islamic republic on charges of spying for Israel and the United States. Three Jews have already been released on bail.

"The trial is not one of the 13 but one of Khatami," Malcolm Hoenlein, director of the conference, said.