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.
