Iran continuing purge of reformers
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-03 09:01

Washington accuses Iran of secretly trying to develop atomic arms in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Tehran denies that, saying the nuclear program is intended only to produce electricity.

The board of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, meets Nov. 24 to review Iran's cooperation on the nuclear issue. Washington and European nations want Tehran referred to the U.N. Security Council.

To show it is cooperating with the IAEA, Iran let U.N. inspectors last week look for signs of a secret nuclear arms program at Parchin, a high-security military site, diplomats close to the IAEA said Wednesday.

Iran also handed over documents and granted interviews with several senior officials thought linked to black market purchases of uranium enrichment technology, one diplomat said.

But at the same time, the regime also takes a harsh tone about the West.

On Wednesday, more than 10,000 demonstrators shouted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" in front of the former U.S. Embassy — the largest such demonstration in years.

Hard-liners organize protests at the site annually to mark the anniversary of the embassy's seizure on Nov. 4, 1979, by militants who held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The United States broke relations with Tehran after the takeover, and they have not been restored.

Demonstrators carried a large picture of Ahmadinejad emblazoned with his quote, "Israel must be wiped off the map." They burned U.S. and Israeli flags and effigies of President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

"We have to continue our confrontation with the United States and Israel," the hard-line newspaper Jomhuri Eslami said in an editorial.