WASHINGTON, Aug 14: President George Bush does not accept his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s rejection of the US claim that his country is supplying arms to the Taliban, the White House said on Tuesday.

Spokeswoman Dan Perino told reporters that President Bush stands by reports by his senior aides that Iran is sending weapons to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

“If the President of Iran believes that that is not to be the case … we put our trust in our intelligence, and what we're hearing from our security forces in Afghanistan and Iraq,” she said.

Ms Perino, however, said that President Bush understands why Afghanistan welcomed the Iranian leader. She recalled that President Bush told Afghan President Hamid Karzai last week in Washington that it’s important for Afghanistan and for Iraq to have good relations with its neighbours.

“We understand how important that is, having good relations with the two neighbors to our north and our south. So beyond that, I don't think we'll have any comment,” said Ms Perino, while commenting on Mr Ahmadinejad’s visit to Afghanistan.

The US media, however, depicted his visit as a show of Iran’s determination to counter US influence in Afghanistan. Media reports noted that Mr Ahmadinejad is leading a high-ranking Iranian delegation to a country where the US, Britain and other western powers are engaged in a bitter struggle with the Taliban.

The visit — Mr Ahmadinejad's first to Afghanistan — was tailor-made to provoke alarm within the Bush administration, which accuses Tehran of destabilising its efforts while claiming that the Taliban is being armed with Iranian weapons, the reports noted.

Tuesday's trip came just a week after Mr Karzai, a key US ally, publicly disagreed with President Bush about the nature of Iran's involvement in Afghanistan.