Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Wednesday that Hassan Nasrallah, chief of Lebanon's Shiite group Hezbollah, was not in hiding in Iran's embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported.

Asefi made the declaration in responds to the Israeli earlier reports that Nasrallah was holed up in Iran's embassy in Beirut, saying that what Israel said is "unfounded and baseless."

"The Zionist regime, unable to overcome the legitimate resistance of the Lebanese people, continues its incessant crimes through spreading lies and making unfounded and baseless remarks," Asefi told reporters on the sidelines of an open session of the Majlis, or parliament.

Earlier, Israeli media quoted some unidentified politicians and military commanders as saying that Nasrallah might be in the Iranian embassy in Beirut.

Asefi said Israel had created a "quagmire" by itself when entering a conflict with Hezbollah guerillas.

"To get rid of the quagmire it has created for itself, the Zionist regime has no option but to put an end to its crimes and abide by international regulations and the legitimate demands of the Lebanese people," the spokesman added.

Nasrallah, a top target of Israel's assassination attempts, said on late Tuesday that Hezbollah would start rocket attacks beyond the northern Israeli city of Haifa.

"We are entering a new phase in the confrontation with Israel and it is the phase of (firing rockets) beyond Haifa," Nasrallah said in a televised speech on Hezbollah's al-Manar TV.

So far, Haifa, the third largest Israeli city about 35 km south of the Israel-Lebanon border, has suffered most of Hezbollah's rocket attacks.

In addition, Nasrallah said that Hezbollah would not accept any "humiliating" conditions in a bid to reach a ceasefire with Israel.

"We will not accept any humiliating conditions on us, our people and our country...especially after all these sacrifices," he said.

Violence erupted in Lebanon on July 12 when Israel started a massive assault following the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah guerillas in cross-border attacks.

Source: Xinhua