Reuters
Elul 13, 5766
The United States used Israel's attack
on Hezbollah in Lebanon as a prelude to "settling accounts" with Iran, a
senior Russian diplomat told Interfax news agency on
Wednesday.
Vladimir Trofimov, deputy head of the foreign ministry's
Middle East department, made the comments the day before Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov begins a visit to the Middle East that will include
Israel.
"If we look at Israeli and U.S. plans, they aim at removing
the Hezbollah factor ahead of the forthcoming U.S. settling of accounts
with Iran," Trofimov said.
"This was a U.S.-Israeli conflict with
the Islamic world, in which Iran has become a de-facto leader," he added.
Trofimov, who has a record of making off-the-cuff remarks, was speaking at
an informal round table discussion in Moscow.
Israel and the United
States have said Tehran supplies arms and cash to Hezbollah.
U.S.
President George W. Bush has refused to rule out military action against
Iran over its nuclear program.
Israel launched its offensive on
Lebanon after Hezbollah killed eight soldiers and abducted two in a July
12 border raid.
A fragile truce was brokered by the United Nations
and came into effect on August 14.
Russia has acknowledged Israel's
right to defend itself against Hezbollah attacks, but was critical of its
offensive in Lebanon.
Lavrov is to visit Israel, the Palestinian
territories, Lebanon and Syria between September 7 and 8.
In a
newspaper interview published on Wednesday, he implicitly criticized
Israel's calls to destroy Hezbollah and said it should instead be engaged
in political dialogue.
"Hezbollah is a part of the Shi'ite
community in Lebanon," Lavrov told government daily Rossiiskaya
Gazeta.
The United States has been pressing Russia to give up its
resistance to sanctions against Iran, which is suspected of trying to
create nuclear weapons. Iran denies such plans and says its nuclear
program is peaceful.
Russia has backed a UN resolution threatening
economic sanctions against Iran if it fails to halt its nuclear program.
Iran has said it will never abandon its right to nuclear
technology.
But Lavrov said on Wednesday that the resolution ruled
out the use of force against Iran.