Iran readies new arms shipments to Hizbullah, Hamas

WASHINGTON -- Iran is preparing to resume weapons shipments to both Hizbullah and the Hamas.

Western intelligence sources in London said security officials loyal to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei are taking steps to renew shipments stopped around April as a result of pressure by Turkey and the United States. Turkey refused to allow Iranian planes to use Turkish air space to fly weapons to Damascus for Hizbullah.

Intelligence sources in Washington told World Tribune.com the Khamenei regime has also pledged weapons and aid for the Hamas organization. Teheran is interested in disrupting peace not only near Israel's northern borders but in the West Bank, they said.

The sources said Iran has not yet renewed arms shipments. They said Syria has also been under pressure from Washington to end the use of Damascus as a transit point for the weapons. The weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, Katyusha rockets, mortars and ammunition, were sent from Damascus to Lebanon in convoys protected by Syria.

One source said Khamenei forces are trying to use Iranian passenger jets to deliver Hizbullah weaponry, Middle East Newsline reported. The source said the weapons have already been loaded on to regularly scheduled flights from Teheran to Damascus.

The source said the effort is opposed by President Mohammed Khatami, who no longer wants Iran to support Hizbullah with weapons.

Dr. Assad Homayoun, President of the Azadegan Foundation, disagrees. "Khatami has no power over Iran's foreign policy and strategy," he said. "Whatever his words, his actions have been subservient to Khamenei."

Homayoun, who was the minister in charge of the Iranian embassy in Washington, D.C. when the Ayatollah Khomeini seized control of the Iranian government in 1980, explained that Khatami is functioning chiefly in a public relations capacity to ease economic pressures on the Khamenei regime caused by its economic isolation from Europe and the United States. Khatami returned this week from a trip to Germany.

Arab diplomatic sources said Syrian President Bashar Assad will maintain the strategic relations with Iran forged by his father. The sources said the message was relayed to Teheran soon after the elder Assad died on June 10.

"This election demonstrated once more the loyalty and faithfulness of the Syrian nation to the ideals of the late leader Hafez Assad, and showed that Syrians appreciate the valuable legacy of their militant leader," Khatami said. "God willing, the Almighty will illuminate the right path for you and stabilize your steps and that of the Syrian nation."

Meanwhile in Teheran, Khamenei has urged intelligence personnel to employ the latest technology and manufacture advanced systems.

Khamenei told the army's intelligence security department that the morale and faith of the personnel of the organization had to be improved. He said this would lead to increased defensive power.

At the same time, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi rejected a U.S. district court ruling that awarded $325 million in compensation to the families of two American Jewish students killed in a 1996 bus bombing in Tel Aviv. In all, 23 people, including the students, were killed in the attack.

Asefi said that Judge Royce Lambeth's ruling was politically-motivated and invalid under international law.

"Under international law, American courts lack jurisdiction to handle such claims,'' Asefi said. "The ruling has been issued in absentia based solely on the views of the plaintiffs' lawyers and with political motivation. Such rulings lack the necessary features of a judicial decree, are not based on the due process of law and are aimed at meeting the political aims of certain [U.S.] groups."

In his ruling, Lamberth said Iran had provided resources and support and resources for Hamas that claimed responsibility for the attack.