Iran angrily rejects European "interference"
over dissidents' murders
TEHRAN, Feb 14 (AFP) - Tehran Sunday stepped up its rejection of calls
for an international inquiry into a string of murders of dissidents here
last year, warning the European Parliament not to meddle in its domestic
affairs.
"Europe has no authority to interfere in our affairs and ask for
fact-finding or inquiry teams to be sent," said Iranian parliamentary
speaker Ali Akbar Nateq-Nuri.
"We have restored dialogue with the European Union but this does
not mean that we shall tolerate any interference in our internal affairs,"
he told MPs.
The European Parliament and other international organisations have
called for fact-finding teams to be sent to Iran to investigate the murders
late last year of a nationalist dissident and his wife and at least two
other writers.
In a shock admission early last month the intelligence ministry admitted
that "rogue" agents had been involved in the murders, sparking
the resignation this month of conservative Intelligence Minister Qorbanali
Dorri-Najafabadi.
Nateq-Nuri's angry reaction to the calls from the European Parliament
follows a firm rejection from Iran's conservative judiciary earlier this
month of any international inquiry.
"Iran is an independent country and does not accept any foreign
interference ... The judiciary rejects an inquiry team or fact-finding
mission of any sort," judiciary chief Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi said.
Yazdi insisted that there was in any case no need for any inquiry as
the Iranian justice system was completely open.
"There is a genuine dialogue between the judiciary and the people
and we have no problem," he said..
The brutal murders of nationalist dissident Dariush Foruhar and his
wife Parvaneh and of writers Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Pouyandeh caused
public uproar here. Another writer Majid Sharif was also found dead
in mysterious circumstances.
The murders led radical supporters of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami
to trade accusations with his conservative opponents over responsibility
for the murders, and prompted the intelligence minister's resignation after
weeks of mounting pressure in the radical and moderate press.
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