1 A top Iranian diplomat on Friday said his country does not intend to kill Salman Rushdie despite Iran's death order against the writer, the Danish foreign ministry said.
2 In a statement issued after a meeting between Iran's Ambassador to Denmark, Mohammad Mehdi Pourmohammadi, and the Danish foreign ministry's director, Henrik Wohlk, the Iranian diplomat was quoted as saying that 'Iran condemns terrorism in any form.'
3 'The Iranian government had never, is not and will not in the future send anyone to kill Salman Rushdie,' he was quoted as saying.
4 Earlier in the day, Iran's official IRNA news agency -- monitored in Cyprus -- quoted the Iranian deputy foreign minister, Mahmoud Vaezi, as saying that the death edict remains in force and that Rushdie must be killed.
5 Vaezi underlined 'the need for the implementation of the fatwa (religious edict) against the writer of the blasphemous book `The Satanic Verses,'' according to IRNA.
6 Vaezi's statement, made during a stopover in Paris, drew a harsh reaction from Denmark, which said he was reneging on statements he made this week in Copenhagen.
7 Following talks with Vaezi in Copenhagen earlier this week, Danish officials said he had assured them the Tehran government would not participate in killing Rushdie, who will mark his sixth anniversary under the Tehran death sentence Feb. 14.
8 '(His latest statement) doesn't correspond with the statement he made during his recent visit in Copenhagen,' said Danish foreign minister Niels Helveg Petersen.
9 'Dialogue has no sense if one says one thing in Copenhagen and another in Paris,' he said adding that if Vaezi's statement in Paris was reconfirmed, it would lead to a 'reconsideration' of Denmark's policy toward Iran.
10 'In that case I will bring it up with our Nordic fellow countries and the European Union and aim at stronger pressure to make the clerical regime understand that we're serious when we demand respect for human rights, including a lifting of the unacceptable fatwa against Salman Rushdie,' Helveg Petersen said.
11 Pourmohammadi was ordered to the Danish foreign ministry during the afternoon to clarify the Iranian stance.
12 'Iran's ties with other countries are limited to international laws, including no interference in other countries' internal matters,' the Danish ministry quoted Pourmohammadi as saying.
13 Iran is already in the midst of a diplomatic row with Norway and Sweden.
14 Vaezi was scheduled also to visit Sweden as part of a Scandinavian tour, but Stockholm withdrew its invitation at the last moment, citing pressure from Norway, with which Iran is entangled in a diplomatic row.
15 The Norwegians have called on Iran to revoke the edict. Iran says that is not possible.

In a statement issued after a meeting between Iran ' s Ambassador to Denmark , Mohammad Mehdi Pourmohammadi , and the Danish foreign ministry ' s director , Henrik Wohlk , the Iranian diplomat was quoted as saying that " Iran condemns terrorism in any form . "
" Iran condemns terrorism in any form . "
What is he implying by this?