Iran rules out written guarantees on Salman Rushdie

Iran has categorically denied a British newspaper report which said Tehran was ready to give written guarantees not to make any attempts on the life of the author Salman Rushdie, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

A statement issued by the Culture Ministry on Saturday accused the `Independent'newspaper of distorting remarks made by Culture Minister Ataollah Mohajerani to foreign reporters.

The ministry said Mohajerani had only reiterated that the death order issued against Rushdie by former spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini could not be revoked, although the Iranian government would not make any attempts on Rushdie's life.

"Considering Iran's unambiguous stance on the issue, a written guarantee in this regard has long been out of the question," the ministry said.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.