Hezbollah accuses West of fomenting turmoil in Iran

LEBANON: Lebanese militant group Hezbollah accused the West on Thursday of fomenting protests in Iran over this month's presidential election but added that it had no worries about the stability of its main foreign backer.

"The extent of Western and American involvement in Iran's internal affairs is now clear," the Shiite militant group's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Qassem, told AFP in an interview.

"What is going on in Iran is not a simple protest against the results of the presidential election," he said. "There are riots and attacks in the streets that are orchestrated from the outside in a bid to destabilise the country's Islamic regime." Tensions have been rising between Iran and the West over the Islamic regime's suppression of mass street protests sparked by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's contested re-election on June 12.

Qassem insisted that his party, still blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Washington and regarded by its critics as an Iranian proxy, would not be affected by the events Tehran.

"Hezbollah has nothing to do with Iran's internal affairs," he said. "We don't side with anyone. This is an internal Iranian issue. He said he felt certain the situation in Iran would soon return to normal.

Beirut, Friday, AFP