Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has likened occupier countries to "axis of evil", a term invented by the United States to label Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.

"Countries that prevent others from living in peace in their own homelands and flagrantly support or commit terrorist acts are the real 'axis of evil'," Khatami was quoted as saying during his visit to Byelorussia.

"Those who illegally occupy lands belonging to others against international norms and those who fuel chaos and extremism worldwide are the main components of the axis of evil," Khatami said.

"They try to deviate the world public opinion from their own crimes by trying to find scapegoats," he added.

In January 2002, US President George W. Bush labelled Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Saddam Hussein's Iraq as the "axis of evil".

Khatami cited the Middle East situation and the Iraqi turbulence as examples.

"All regional countries have a stake in continued peace and security in a sensitive region like the Middle East. Crises and tensions in the region only serve the illegitimate interests of the outsiders," Khatami said.

"The Iraqi people are now suffering because of the mistakes and failures of the outsiders, who came to the country on their own selfish agenda and should bear the cost of their mistakes," he said.

"However, the current problems in Iraq have shown that the occupation can no longer continue and the use of force has to come to an end," Khatami noted.

Khatami arrived in Minsk, the capital city of Byelorussia, on Thursday evening for an official visit, which is the second leg of his three-nation regional tour starting from Wednesday. He has already visited Armenia and will travel to Tajikistan after conclusion of Minsk tour.