Tehran on Saturday sniffed at the United States' financial earmarking in 2006 which supports the so- called democratic movement in Iran, terming it as a futile move.

The official IRNA news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi as saying that "the futile measure will disgrace the White House even more."

It was reported earlier in the day that the United States had allocated about five million U.S. dollars to support non- governmental organizations in or related to Iran to promote " democratic process" in the Islamic Republic.

Asefi denounced that by such a move the U.S. administration had proved "it is not committed to bilateral and international commitments", adding that this "cannot be concealed by its deception".

"The United States is reviving its hostile policies adopted against Iran since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and intended to be implemented in various economic and cultural spheres," Asefi stressed.

"Despite the expectations of U.S. officials, the country's hostile measures have led to the reinforcement of unity of the Iranian nation and stronger support for the Islamic Republic system," the spokesman added.

Iran and the United States have broken off diplomatic ties and turned to hostile to each other since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, which overturned the pro-U.S. Shah's reign.

The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons secretly and sponsoring terrorism. In return, Iran terms the United States as enemy of Islam and state terrorism.

Source: Xinhua