UNITED NATIONS – Secretary-General Annan for the first time has accused the mullahs of Iran of interfering in the affairs of the sovereign state Lebanon and asked that they heed the 2004 Security Council resolution urging the country’s complete independence.

Mr. Annan last night also expressed his deep concern about the actions of Iran’s surrogate militia – the terrorist organization Hezbollah, which operates in Lebanon – and its repeated defiance of the council’s call for the disarming of all factions in Lebanon.

The language of the report, finalized late yesterday afternoon by the secretary-general’s envoy in Lebanon, Terje Roed-Larsen, took a blunt tone for the usually mild-mannered Mr. Annan.

In the report, viewed by The New York Sun, Mr. Annan said that if the Security Council supports Lebanon and its “farsighted” government, with the “necessary cooperation of all other relevant parties, including Syria and Iran,the difficulties of the past can be overcome.”

Past analyses of the implementation of the Security Council’s Lebanon resolutions focused on Syrian cooperation, and omitted mention of Iran’s influence there and its connection to Hezbollah, a Shiite organization founded by Tehran that is still commanded by Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Hezbollah “maintains close ties, with frequent contacts and regular communication, with the Syrian Arab Republic and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” yesterday’s report, which was prepared by Mr. Larsen, who frequently travels to the Middle East on Mr. Annan’s behalf, said in a clarifying footnote.

“In this context, particularly, I have taken note of statements by senior Syrian officials urging a continuation of the ‘resistance,’ for example, by the President of Syria during his press conference with the visiting President of Iran in Damascus on 19 January 2006,” the report read.

Iranian and Syrian links to Hezbollah – considered a terrorist organization by America – have been a source of concern for the Bush administration. “There is no doubt that Iran’s financing of Hamas and Hezbollah, and other terrorist groups, has a definite impact in Lebanon – and in Syria too,” America’s ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, told The New York Sun yesterday.

The Security Council passed the principal resolution 1559 on Lebanon shortly before the February 2005 assassination in Beirut of a former prime minister, Rafik Hariri. The resolution called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon, and made other provisions related to its territorial integrity, independence, and democratic institutions.

One provision that has proved difficult to implement was the disarmament of militias. Past reports and briefings by Mr. Larsen detailed an increased flow of arms to Hezbollah strongholds and Palestinian Arab refugee camps in Lebanon through the Syrian border.

“There has not yet been any noticeable change in the operational status and capabilities of Hezbollah,” yesterday’s report determined, despite the fact that Lebanese army commanders have promised Mr. Annan, “integration of Hezbollah into the armed forces does not pose problems from an operational point of view if and when such a decision was taken.”

In February, “Twelve trucks carrying ammunitions and weapons of various kinds, including Katyusha rockets, crossed the border from Syria,” according to the report. “Discovered a few days later at a checkpoint inside Lebanon, the trucks were allowed to continue their journey towards their destination in south Lebanon.”

The report said that for the last 15 years, it has been “common practice” for the army to allow weapons through domestic checkpoints if they are destined for “the resistance.” Recently, however, Mr. Larsen was informed that the Lebanese government and army now defer to Prime Minister Siniora on the fate of such arms. “No further transfers of ammunitions and weapons have occurred” since that February delivery, the army told Mr. Larsen, according to the report.

Hezbollah says it needs munitions to fight Israelis in Shaba Farms, known in Jerusalem as Har Dov. Israel, which according to the United Nations had withdrawn completely from Lebanon by 2000, has said that Hezbollah’s argument is a pretext to maintain a battle ready, terrorist presence at its border. Hezbollah, by Israeli accounts, acts on behalf of Iran and Syria to escalate tensions in the region. According to Israeli intelligence, the Lebanese terror group’s operatives support and train members of Hamas and other terrorist organizations in areas controlled by Palestinian Arabs.

The United Nations has determined that Shaba is Syrian-occupied, as per yesterday’s report. Accordingly, Shaba’s future should be decided between Israel and Syria. If Lebanon and Syria want to define Shaba as Lebanese, they should do so in a formal bilateral agreement, the report said.

Hezbollah has said it would take part in Lebanon’s national dialogue, according to the report, which implies the terror group’s acknowledgment that “the delineation of the border between Syria and Lebanon is the sole and exclusive legitimate pathway to restore Lebanese sovereignty over the Shaba farms.” Therefore, the report implied, a “resistance” movement is not justified in bearing arms.

Mr. Siniora is expected to brief the council for the first time this Friday, and Mr. Larsen will answer council questions regarding his report on April 26.