No part of Israel is safe, Iranian lawmaker says

Despite comments, Tehran denies behind-the-scenes role in fighting

	Demonstrators show support for Hezbollah with posters of leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah during an anti-Israeli rally in Tehran, Iran, on Tuesday. Speaking to the crowd, Iranian parliament 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."
Vahid Salemi / AP

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updated 7:41 a.m. ET July 18, 2006

TEHRAN, Iran - 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."

While the speaker is not among the most influential office-bearers in Iran, Haddad Adel's comments call into question the Tehran government's official position that it is not involved in the conflict between Israel and Lebanon.

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Vahid Salemi / AP
Iranian parliament speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel tells a crowd of anti-Israel demonstrators on Tuesday that "no part of Israel will be safe."
Iran and its ally Syria are the principal backers of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that provoked the current fighting when its guerrillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers from a post in northern Israel last week. On Monday, Israeli military officials said their planes had destroyed a long-range missile, 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.

In his speech, Haddad Adel praised Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, calling him a "brave lion," and argued that the Palestinians and Lebanese had every right to fight Israel because Israel has hundreds of Lebanese and Palestinians in its prisons.

He was also warned that there would be no peace until the United States stopped supporting Israel.

Addressing Washington, he said: "Either cut your support for Israel, or don't expect peace and compromise with the world."

The crowd responded with chants of "Death to Israel!"