Iran and Iraq have lashed back at President Bush after he described them in his State of the Union address as part of an axis of evil, regimes that sponsor terrorism and seek weapons of mass of destruction.

Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi rejected the accusations as arrogant and said they amount to interference in Iranian internal affairs. He said the world will not tolerate U.S. hegemony, adding that President Bush should offer proof to support his allegations.

Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, who now heads a powerful state council, said it is unacceptable for President Bush to describe the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and Lebanon's Hezbollah, as terrorist movements.

In Iraq, a senior member of the national assembly, Salem al-Qubassi, said the claims against Iraq are baseless. He in turn accused President Bush of practicing state-sponsored terrorism. The Iraqi official charged that Mr. Bush's speech was part of a string of U.S. accusations to prepare public opinion for a new attack on Iraq.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad rejected President's Bush description of them as terrorist groups. They said they are resisting Israeli occupation.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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