UK Rejects Iran's Call for Apology
August 25, 2003
Independent
Anne Penketh
Britain yesterday ignored a call from the Iranian President for an apology following the arrest of a former ambassador.
The former Iranian envoy to Argentina, Hadi Suleimanpour, was arrested on Thursday in connection with the bombing in 1994 of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people. His arrest in Durham, where he is a research assistant at the university, drew sharp protests from Iran, which has denied involvement in the bombing.
On Saturday, Tehran severed economic and cultural ties with Argentina, which last week ordered the ambassador's extradition and the arrest of seven other Iranians in connection with the bombing of the community centre.
But the row deepened yesterday when the Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, demanded an apology from Britain and announced that the government would take "strong action". "What has happened has been politically motivated," he said. "There are currents behind the case trying to put the Islamic Republic under pressure by levelling baseless accusations and unfounded allegations against Tehran."
The British chargé d'affaires, Matthew Gould, who was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry yesterday for the second time this weekend, told the Tehran authorities that the judicial process in Britain was independent of the government.
The Foreign Office refused further comment other than the statement made by Mr Gould.
The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, has visited Tehran four times in the past two years as part of efforts to end Iran's isolation. Mr Straw and the Iranian Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharrazi, have reportedly been in regular contact about the Suleimanpour case.
Argentina has stepped up its investigation into the 1994 bombing under the presidency of Nestor Kirchner. Last month he described the lack of progress in the bombing as a "national disgrace".
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=436894