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iranian embassy in ottawa strongly denies allegations

new york, march 27, irna -- the iranian embassy in ottawa, canada, in a statement wednesday night condemned any terrorist operation and categorically denied any connection between the saudi arabian national arrested in canada and the iranian diplomats in canada. the statement was made following the recent news reports concerning the arrest of a saudi arabian national, hani abdulrahim al-sayegh, who is suspected of being involved in bombing of a housing quarter of u.s. servicemen in dhahran, saudi arabia. ''the iranian embassy in ottawa has learned of the foundless allegations made by some journalists (the articles appeared in march 25, 1995 eddition of new york times) on possible involvement of iran in saudi arabia bombing and regrets that fleeting references have also been made to a ''suspicion of possible contacts'' between the arrested individual and iranian diplomats in canada.'' the statement added, ''the iranian embassy in ottawa reiterates the position of its government in condemning all forms of terrorism by whoever and for whatever purpose, and further reiterates that it has not had any involvement in any sort or fashion, with the bombing incident in saudi arabia. ''such baseless accusations and moreover the pointless reference to the suspicion of possible contact of the suspect with the iranian embassy in ottawa seem to demonstrate a desperate attempt of the authors to save the american unilateral isolationist policy towards iran,'' concluded the embassy statement. the june 25, 1996 bombing of the khobar towers housing complex in dhahran in eastern saudi arabia killed 19 american military personnel and injured more than 500 americans and saudis.

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president rafsanjani arrives in ardebil

ardebil, march 26, irna -- president akbar hashemi rafsanjani arrived in this northwestern city thursday morning to inspect the quake-stricken regions in ardebil province. the president was welcomed at the airport by representative of the leader in the province ayatollah moravej, ardebil governor general mahmoud ahmadi-nejad and other local officials. immediately after arrival the president and the accompanying delegation left for the quake-stricken areas. a quake with a magnitude of 5.6 degrees hit the province on february 28 damaging more than 100 villages killing and wounding 3,600

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ardebil hit by another quake

ardebil, march 26, irna -- a tremor with a magnitude of 3.9 degrees on the richter scale rocked the city of ardebil and its vicinity at 22:22 hours local time (18:52 gtm) wednesday. the tabriz seismological center registered the epicenter of the quake in the city of sarein, 30 kms west of ardebil. another quake measuring 3.5 degrees on the richter scale jolted the city at 15:46 hours local time (12:16 gmt) wednesday.

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fadhlollah hails close relations between iran, persian gulf states

beirut, march 27, irna -- a prominent lebanese alim here today welcomed improvement of relations between iran and the arab states of the persian gulf but expressed concern that the u.s. may take actions to hamper the process. allama seyyed mohammad hussein fadhlollah further praised iran for having adopted open policy in the world of islam particularly in the persian gulf region. describing the move as a valuable step, he said this will thwart the u.s. plots aimed at portraying iran as a danger against the interests of the regional countries. referring to the recent meetings of president akbar hashemi rafsanjani of iran with certain arab leaders at the sideline of the extraordinary summit of the organization of islamic conference in islamabad, pakistan, he said, ''iran wants nothing bad for saudi arabia and other persian gulf states.'' on the contrary, he added, iran as the largest country in the persian gulf region, has in cooperation with other regional countries and based on the principle of collective participation to ensure the security of the persian gulf, been striving to maintain its relations with regional states. the lebanese alim expressed concern that the u.s. administration in a bid to prevent close relations between iran and the persian gulf countries would exert pressure on those countries. this is because the u.s. wants to remain the guardian of the regional security so that it can plunder the wealth of the regional countries, the allama concluded.

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president refsanjani inspects quake-stricken villages in ardebil

ardebil, march 27, irna -- president akbar hashemi rafsanjani on thursday visited golestan and shiran, two of the worst-hit villages in the deadly tremor which hit ardebil province on february 28. the president arrived here this morning to inspect the quake-stricken areas. the quake with a magnitude of 5.5 degrees on the open ended richter scale damaged more than 100 villages, killing and wounding 3,600 people and leaving over 4,000 others homeless. during his visit to golestan president rafsanjani thanked all those who helped the quake-stricken people, assuring the villages that the government will do its best to help the people affected by the disater. he added that in the wake of programs already in hand construction work on the quake-hit areas will be completed by next winter. golestan and shiran of nayyer region in ardebil sustained 100 percent damage and 350 of their residents lost their lives as a result of the earthquake. president rafsanjani is accompanied by the leader's representative hojatoleslam ghayuri, minister of the interior ali mohammad besharati, minister of agriculture issa kalantari, and a number of other officials.

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iran welcomes pgcc's call for expansion of ties

tehran, march 27, irna -- iran has always stressed the principle of good neighborliness and peaceful co-existence, said foreign ministry spokesman mahmoud mohammadi here on thursday. welcoming the announcement of readiness by foreign ministers of the persian gulf cooperation council for expansion of ties with iran, mohammadi said that iran saw cooperation among the persian gulf littoral states as the sole way of cementing stability and security of the region. the foreign ministry spokesman said that continuation of such cooperation would serve to expand relations and remove probable disputes. he underlined that the three islands of lesser and greater tunbs and abu mousa are inseparable parts of iran and that as already announced, iran is ready to hold talks with the uae officials on solving of current disputes. he expressed hope that the uae officials would welcome such a brotherly request.

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president refsanjani winds up visit to ardebil

ardebil, march 27, irna-- president akbar hashemi rafsanjani left ardebil on thursday after a one day stay here to inspect the quake-stricken areas of this northwestern province of iran. before his departure, the president visited golestan and shiran, two of the worst-hit villages and also sar'ein area, where he closely inspected ongoing rescue operations in the region. president rafsanjani's visit coincided with the beginning of reconstruction work in ardebil hit by a 5.5 richter tremor on february 28. the temblor damaged more than 100 villages in the province, leaving 3,600 people dead or wounded and more than 4,000 others homeless. hojatoleslam rafsanjani accompanied by several high ranking officials said that reconstruction work in ardebil would be completed by next winter.

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1.5 tons of narcotics seized in khorasan prov. since march 20

mashhad, march 27, irna -- some 1.5 tons of narcotics were confiscated by law enforcemet personnel in northeastern province of khorasan since start of the new iranian year on march 21, said an official here on thursday. some of the drugs were seized after clashes with armed traffickers in taibad and torbat-e-jam regions and the rest during routine search of passing cars throughout the province.

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iranian, iraqi foreign ministers meet in rabat

rabat, march 27, irna -- the iranian and iraqi foreign ministers in a meeting here on thursday exchanged views on latest developments in tehran-baghdad relations and explored ways of improving them. iraqi foreign minister muhammad saeed as-sahaf thanked iran for its recent humanitarian action in unilaterally releasing a group of iraqi prisoners of war (pows) and said the his country is willing to expand its relations with iran. velayati, stressing the need for logical and proper relations among neighboring states, said that goodneighborliness and mutual confidence were two basic conditions for improvement of tehran-baghdad ties. he underlined the need for taking serious and practical steps to remove current obstacles on the way of bilateral relations and called for settlement of the issue concerning release of pows and for providing for exchange of pilgrims willing to visit the holy sites in both countries. the meeting was held on the sideline of the ministerial meeting of the al-qods committee of the organization of islamic conference.

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greek political leader favours strengthening of ties with iran

athens, march 26, irna -- iran's ambassador to greece, mehdi khandaqabadi, met the leader of the greek opposition party, the democratic social movement (dikki), dimitris tsovolas, in athens wednesday and exchanged views on bilateral relations. an iranian embassy source told irna that the two men discussed ways to strengthen and expand ties between greece and the islamic republic. tsovolas said his party was keen on expanding economic and political ties between athens and tehran, adding that the iranian friendship group in the greek parliament can play an effective role in this regard. dikki has nine deputies in the 300-member single-chamber house. khandaqabdi also met today greek economy undersecretary christos pachtas and disucssed bilateral economic ties.

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iran to human rights commission: situation of muslim minorities in western countries deplorable

vienna, march 26, irna -- iranian representative, ali reza ghanavi, in his address to the human rights commission in geneva on we nesday deplored the situation of muslim minorities in western countries, and said that enough attention was not being paid to the rights of muslim citizens in these countries. he said that while there was an effective mechanism in western countries against anti-jewish sentiments, there was too much to be desired for the legal rights of the growing muslim community, and some countries were even trying to revive the old anti-islamic attitude of the crusades. the 53rd session of the human rights commission started work in geneva on march 10 with participation of representatives of member countries. the iranian representative pointed that the muslims were sometimes labelled as 'fundamentalists' in a bid to fan religious discrimination and thereby tighten political, social and legal pressures against them. such discrimination has led to acts of arson and setting afire of homes and religious places of muslims in the west, and there is no legal support to save muslim lives and properties, he added.

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niger president lauds iran's medical assistance

tehran, march 26, irna -- head of iran's red crescent society seifollah vahid dastjerdi in a meeting with niger president ibrahim mainassara bare wednesday discussed iran's medical assistance to the african state. vahid dastjerdi who is currently in niamey said that iran has set up a large clinic in niamey which offers medical service to the deprived and muslim people of niger. he added that tehran has undertaken to put into operation another clinic in the impoverished suburbs of niamey. iran has also airlifted 50 tons of foodstuffs which have been distributed through the iranian embassy in niger, he said. mainassara praised the humanitarian assistance provided by the iranian government for the needy in niger. were two basic conditions for improvement of tehran-baghdad ties. he underlined the(:w(:B:r_:!k8:ACa' n   d 7 d f ( * , . u u 2 b d 8%')+-t7df-egiH@OQ*u"g\\2@BDFH&q  SS^B'r ILY. > @ !i!i!!!""""d""""*#j#l####2$4$u$$$$$%X%%%%%%%%C&&&&''o'{'}'''(6(8(:(<(>(((( )S)))))*s****%+%+i+k+++>,,,,,(-*-,-.-u---.I...../]////30x0000000111L11111 2P22233J3333%474944445c555555B6666666 77Q7S7U77777C8C8889a9999:::(:*:Q7S7U77777C8  Arialch 10 with participation of representatives of member countries. the iranian representative pointed that the