Tehran - Iran said yesterday nothing had changed in its position over the Salman Rushdie row with Britain and the Islamic republic's dignity had been preserved.
"All countries, one after the other, are trying to bring about changes in their policy towards our country . . . without having any change in our position," said the Foreign Minister, Mr Kamal Kharrazi. He told a news conference in Tehran that the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, had expressed regret at the offence caused to Muslims by Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses.
In London, a junior British Foreign Office minister said he was confident Iran would stick to what had been agreed in New York.