Iran yesterday condemned the United States' for supporting Israel in the
conflict with Lebanon's Hezbollah, holding Washington's "hegemonic behavior"
responsible for the failure to reach a truce between the two sides in a Rome
conference, local Fars news agency reported.
The U.S. support for Israel was the reason underlying the failure, Iranian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi was quoted as saying.
"As long as the U.S. policies are fully in support of Israel and triggering
tension and war in the Mideast region, the establishment of security and
sustainable peace is impossible," he added.
The United States' unilateral support for Israel meant continued mass
killings of innocent people, destruction of the economic infrastructure and
continued crisis in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, said the spokesman.
Meanwhile, Asefi warned the U.S. against its "arrogant and conceited
attitude", saying the U.S. "hegemony and unilateral policies" would beget wrath
and abomination of the people in the region.
Asefi also expressed concerns to the massive casualties and damages during
the Israeli offensive in Lebanon, demanding the United Nations compensate
Lebanon's losses.
No agreement on an immediate ceasefire between Israel andHezbollah had been
reached in the one-day international conferencein the Italian capital Rome on
Wednesday.
Foreign ministers from 15 Western and Arab countries attended the conference
which was co-chaired by Italy and the U.S. Iran's top officials have recently
reiterated strong indignation at Israel and the U.S. role in the Israeli
offensive in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, calling on the international community
to be more active to stop the violence.
Israel launched a massive bombardment and limited ground assault on Lebanese
Hezbollah after the Shiite militant group abducted two Israeli soldiers on July
12.
More than 400 Lebanese and over 50 Israelis have been killed in the conflict
so far.