Iran cleric rejects Bush's accusations on Iraq

By Parisa Hafezi

TEHRAN (Reuters) - An influential Iranian cleric on Friday rejected President George W. Bush's accusations that Iran was arming and funding Shi'ite militias in Iraq to kill American soldiers, state radio reported.

In a speech at the White House on Thursday, Bush repeated long-standing U.S. accusations against Iran and warned the Islamic republic to stop interfering in Iraq. He characterized Iran and al Qaeda as "two of the greatest threats to America."

"Iran has never interfered in Iraq ... such claims are sheer lies made by Iraq's occupiers to continue Iraq's occupation," Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a senior advisor to Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told worshippers in a Friday prayers sermon at Tehran University.

"Iran supports the establishment of peace, security and freedom in Iraq as well as the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq," added Rafsanjani, also head of a powerful arbitrary body.

Bush, who has accused Iran of backing militant groups in southern Iraq and providing explosives to extremists in the country, said Tehran had to choose between peace or war.

"If Iran makes the right choice, America will encourage a peaceful relationship between Iran and Iraq. If Iran makes the wrong choice, America will act to protect our interests and our troops and our Iraqi partners."

Relations between Washington and Tehran have been hostile shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, when hardline Iranian students seized the American embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

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