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Iran Denies Protest Involvement, Demands Apology

The Islamic Republic of Iran rejected Sunday accusations from U.S. and Danish officials that the government in Tehran had inflamed and encouraged last week`s violent protests against Western embassies in the Iranian capital over caricatures of Islam`s prophet Muhammad, and went so far as to demand an apology both for the drawings and the accusations.

"What happened was a natural reaction. U.S. Rice and Danish officials should apologize. Such comments could worsen the situation and an apology could alleviate the tension," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said last Wednesday that "Iran and Syria have gone out of their way to inflame sentiments and have used this for their own purposes. And the world ought to call them on it."

Protests continued Sunday. Extreme nationalist Turks, chanting "Vengeance," pelted the French Consulate in Istanbul with eggs as about 2,500 pro-Islamic demonstrators shouted, "Down with America, Israel and Denmark." In the West Bank, graffiti insulting the prophet Muhammad including offensive slogans equating Islam`s founder with a pig were found scrawled on a mosque, touching off a protest in which three Palestinians were shot by Israeli soldiers, and an Israeli woman slightly injured by stones thrown at her car.