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| Iran |
| Khatami denies Bam disaster caused by nuclear test |
| 2003-12-31 |
| A new earthquake, measuring 4,3 on the Richter scale, shook southwestern Iran on Wednesday morning, RIA Novosti reported. No damages or casualties have been reported. Aftershock, those will keep coming for awhile. Meanwhile in the quake-hit city of Bam, the Iranian government upped the death toll to 30,000 with fears the final number could approach 50,000. The official in charge of burying Friday’s quake victims, Mahmoud Rezaian, was quoted by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) as saying the number buried was now above 30,000. Still pulling bodies out of the rubble. Meanwhile, the Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami on Tuesady brushed aside rumors that a nuclear test in Bam area was the trigger for the killer quake, saying "although these assertions have swirled around they are totally useless." It’s a great rumor to keep spreading. "There is no place for nuclear weapons in our religious tents or defense and security doctrine," the Iranian president underlined. "We keep the weapons in a bunker, not a tent" |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #6 Inspectors? What inspectors? The inspectors belong to the wrong tribe, so letting them on the work sites would be an insult to the honor of the tribe that won the building contract. Besides, why spend money on things like rebar and sane engineering when you can blow it on the Hajj and temporary marriages? Oh, and let's not forget the bribes -- never forget the bribes. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-12-31 3:47:12 PM |
| #5 And are those building inspectors on the take? I'm sure those german engineers they hired will make sure the plants are earthquake proof. |
| Posted by: 4thInfVet 2003-12-31 2:19:52 PM |
| #4 Wonder what they're building their nuke plants out of? And are those building inspectors on the take? Don't worry, boys. Allah's got you covered. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-12-31 1:28:32 PM |
| #3 I can understand the old buildings being destroyed (how they mangaged to say up for so long is the mystery), but new building such as the hospitals were destroyed too. No excuse! |
| Posted by: Spot 2003-12-31 1:17:10 PM |
| #2 It's a tricky cost-benefit trade-off Spot. Consider the "world largest mud structure" which collapsed due to the quake. It seems stupid to build something like that in a fault zone... but then again it was cheap and how old was it? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-12-31 1:02:20 PM |
| #1 Iran sits on a major suture zone where two crustal plates are smashing together. They have had, and will continue to have, large earthquakes for millions of years. Why they haven't managed to realize this and build accordingly is a mystery to me. |
| Posted by: Spot 2003-12-31 11:25:34 AM |