IRAN: SUICIDE BOMBERS JOINED HEZBOLLAH IN LEBANON, MILITANT SAYS

Tehran July (AKI) - A spokesman for an Iranian militant group which claims to have 55,000 would-be suicide bombers among its members said on Thursday that 27 of its men have joined Hezbollah militias in Lebanon to fight against Israel. "The first two groups of esteshhadioun (volunteers of martyrdom) have already reached Lebanon," Mohammad Ali Samadi told Adnkronos International (AKI). Speaking on the phone from the organization's headquarters in Tehran, Samadi said the militants reached Lebanon through Syria.

The spokesman for the Headquarters for the Glory of Martyrs of the International Movement said its militants in Lebanon were "27 people selected from the 55,000 members who spoke fluent Arabic and have received adequate training to fight beside their Lebanese brothers against the Zionist enemy."

The spokesman however said the militants would not engage in combat but would "identify Zionist targets and then attack them with actions of martyrdom."