BEIRUT- Iran has offered support to Lebanon's army, a week after a deadly cross-border clash between Lebanon and Israel which prompted US lawmakers to block funding to the Lebanese military. The offer from Iran, which supports Lebanon's militant Shi'ite group Hizbollah, could fuel Western concern that Tehran is increasing its influence near Israel's northern border. Israel said it had complained to Washington and Paris about funds to the Lebanese army after a skirmish left two Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist and a senior Israeli officer dead in the worst border violence since a 2006 war between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas. Iran's ambassador to Lebanon met Lebanese army chief Jean Kahwaji Monday and said Tehran was ready to "cooperate with the Lebanese army in any area that would help the military in performing its national role in defending Lebanon." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to visit Beirut next month. The State Department said Iran's statement underscored the need for continued US outreach to Lebanon. "We think that activities, directly or indirectly, by Iran actually compromise Lebanese sovereignty," Crowley told a news briefing. "The statements by Iran are expressly the reason why we believe that continuing support to the Lebanese government and the Lebanese military is in our interest." Two US Democrat lawmakers said they were holding up $100 million that was approved for Lebanon's army but not yet spent. A senior House Republican, Eric Cantor, said future funding should be stopped too, pending an inquiry into the clash. Cantor said the lines between Hizbollah, the Lebanese military and the government had become "blurred." The Lebanese army is seen as woefully under-equipped compared to Hizbollah, which is believed to have been rearming since the 2006 war with Israel. The military lost 170 troops when battling an al Qaeda-inspired Islamist group holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp in 2007.
