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Iran denies arms exports

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, January 9, 2002

NICOSIA Ñ "Iran does not sell weapons and is not interested in arms sales," former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani said in an address at the General Staff military headquarters in Teheran on Sunday. The former president is regarded as a spokesman for Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

The Iranian assertion came as the Islamic republic has been accused by Israel and the United States for selling weapons to Islamic insurgency groups including the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah.

Last week, Israel captured a ship full of Iranian weapons that officials said was loaded in Iran and destined for the Palestinian Authority. Over the weekend, Israel displayed the weapons on the ship, which included Sagger anti-tank missiles, Katyusha rockets and other Iranian-made weapons.

Iran has lowered its profile as an arms exporter amid efforts to win a trade agreement with the European Union.

Iranian officials have told their European counterparts that Teheran does not plan to become a major arms exporter despite its growing weapons industry. The officials said the indigenous weapons are meant for Iran's military.

Last year, Iranian defense chiefs, including Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani, said Teheran was seeking markets for its weapons. Iranian state-owned defense firms have increased their appearances at international exhibitions and tout the weapons as reliable and cheaper than Western counterparts.

For his part, Rafsanjani told the mlitary forum that Iran has become self-sufficient in producing armaments. He said the nation developed its military industry in wake of its 1980-88 war with Iraq.

Rafsanjani added that Iran does not seek to acquire nonconventional weapons.

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