Khamenei says Iran will continue to support Lebanon

TEHRAN, Aug 2 (Reuters) Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today praised Hizbollah and pledged not to abandon support for Lebanese resistance against Israel, state television reported.

Israel has been fighting Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas since July 12, when Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. At least 646 people have been killed in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 54 Israelis have died in three weeks of fighting.

''The only way to succeed is to continue resistance against the occupier regime (Israel),'' said Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state in Iran and who dominates the country's policy on the Middle East conflict.

''Iran will stand by ... the brave Lebanese nation and the combatant Palestinian nation.'' Opposition to Israel is one of the cornerstones of belief of the Islamic Republic. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be ''wiped off the map''.

Khamenei criticised the United States for supporting Israel's ''evil acts'' in Lebanon and called on the Islamic world to unite against Israel.

''The aggressive nature of America and Israel will revive the spirit of resistance more than before in the Islamic world,'' Khamenei said.

Israel accuses Iran of providing Hizbollah with missiles used against civilian and military targets. Although Iran armed and funded Hizbollah during the 1980s, Tehran now insists it provides only moral support to the group.

An influential hardline cleric yesterday called on Muslim nations to arm Lebanese Hizbollah in its fight against Israel.

REUTERS LL BD1536