Several dead in violent protests in central Iran
World News
Aug 17, 2003
TEHRAN - Several people have been killed during violent protests in the central Iranian town of Samirom against planned changes to its local administration, state radio reported Sunday.
Individuals set fire to tyres and smashed windows of shops, homes, cars and public buildings, leading to the deaths of several people, the radio said.
Both police and protestors were also wounded in the demonstrations, which erupted Saturday, it added.
The demonstrators were protesting against the interior ministry's decision to incorporate the village of Vardasht within Samirom municipality, which lies in the far south of the central province of Esfahan.
http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1784.shtmlLarijani Urges Resistance to Atomic Demands
August 17, 2003
Reuters
MSNBC News
TEHRAN -- A senior Iranian official said on Sunday the country should resist Western demands over its atomic programme as international pressure mounts on the Islamic republic to allow snap inspections of its nuclear facilities.
Western countries and the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog have urged Iran to sign a protocol allowing unfettered inspections of sites which the United States argues could be used for developing atomic bombs.
''If we resist the West's illogical demands, their stance regarding Iran will change,'' the official IRNA news agency quoted Ali Larijani, a member of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, as saying in a speech to war veterans.
Larijani is also head of Iran's state broadcaster, appointed directly by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran denies it has any military nuclear ambitions and insists its programme is purely to meet increasing demands for electricity.
It has resisted calls to sign the Additional Protocol of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which would allow more intrusive inspections.
Reformists allied to President Mohammad Khatami's government have spoken out in favour of accepting tougher inspections. But some hardliners fiercely opposed to Western interference in Iranian affairs have suggested that instead of signing the protocol, Iran should pull out of the NPT altogether.
''What is the guarantee that after Iran joins the protocol, they will not accuse us of building atomic weapons,'' IRNA quoted Larijani as saying.
Officials from the pro-reform government have said Tehran has no intention of pulling out of the NPT and Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh said last week the country had a ''positive view'' on the protocol.
Tehran says it should get access to Western atomic power technology in return for signing the protocol.
''There is no reason to join the protocol while the IAEA and its members have not helped Iran to obtain the nuclear technology,'' Larijani said.
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