Annan said the comments came at a meeting between the two men in Teheran during the UN chief's tour of the Middle East to shore up the cease- fire that halted a 34-day war in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.

UN Resolution 1701 drew up the terms for the cease-fire, including expanding an existing UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon and calling for an arms embargo on Hezbollah.

After meeting Ahmadinejad, Annan said the Iranian president "reaffirmed his country's support for the implementation of Resolution 1701 and agrees with me that we should do everything to strengthen the territorial integrity of Lebanon."

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also said Iran is ready "to cooperate with the [UN] in resuming peace in Lebanon and on its borders."

Iran funded and armed Hezbollah in the 1980s but now says its support is primarily moral and political. However, it is still widely believed to be the group's main arms supplier.

UN and Iranian officials did not outline how Iran would support the UN resolution. UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said Annan had raised the issue of the arms embargo with Mottaki Saturday but he did not give details of the response.

Fawzi said Ahmadinejad had told Annan in telephone talks prior to his visit that Iran had reservations about some articles of the resolution but would still cooperate in its implementation. He did not say what those reservations were.

Annan's visit to Iran came just days after Teheran failed to meet a UN Security Council deadline to halt sensitive nuclear work.

"On the nuclear issue, the president reaffirmed to me Iran's preparedness and determination to negotiate and find a solution to the crisis," Annan said.

But he said the president also said Iran would not suspend enrichment before talks as demanded by the UN.

UN officials said Annan had also requested to meet Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has also said Iran would press ahead with its atomic plans. But UN officials said no appointment was made and Annan left for Qatar without seeing him.

Annan said international peacekeepers are deploying quickly to south Lebanon, joining Lebanese soldiers moving into the region.

"That would constitute a credible force," he said.

More than 500 Italian troops landed in south Lebanon Sunday morning from a force of 800 that arrived off Lebanon to help keep the peace. Heavy equipment would be flown in later Sunday, a UN spokesman said.

REUTERS