Iran Official: No part of Israel safe

TEHRAN, Iran - AP- No part of Israel is safe in the current fighting with Lebanon, Iran's parliamentary speaker warned Tuesday, referring to the range of guerrilla rockets.

Speaking to a crowd of thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators in Palestine Square, Tehran, Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel told Israelis: "The towns you have built in northern Palestine (Israel) are within the range of the brave Lebanese children. No part of Israel will be safe."

In his speech, Haddad Adel praised Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, calling him a "brave lion," and said the Palestinians and Lebanese had every right to fight Israel.

He said Israelis "want to turn the Lebanese people against Hezbollah and disarm it, but they are unaware of the fact that Lebanese people know the value of resistance, and the value of Hezbollah's weapons, more than they did beforehand."

Haddad Adel is not among the most influential officials in Iran. Nevertheless, his comments call into question the Tehran government's official position that it is not Involved in the conflict between Israel and Lebanon.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki indicated that Iran may be playing a covert role in the fighting when he said Monday that a ceasefire was feasible. He spoke after talks with the Syrian government in Damascus.

Iran and its ally Syria are the principal backers of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that provoked the current fighting when its guerrillas seized two Israeli soldiers last week. On Monday, Israeli military officials said their planes had destroyed a long-range missile in Lebanon, named "Zelzal," that Hezbollah had received from Iran.

Israel has alleged that 100 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are in Lebanon acting as advisers to Hezbollah. Iran has denied the accusation, saying Hezbollah is strong enough to defend itself.

On Monday, Israeli military people in charge had announced that the Israeli planes had destroyed a baptized long-range missile "Zelzal" whom Hezbollah had received from Iran.