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TEHRAN, Dec 25 (AFP) - Iran on Saturday angrily denied U.S. accusations that the Islamic republic does not respect religious freedom. "Religious minorities enjoy all social rights in Iran and are active at every level of society," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi told the official IRNA news agency. "Religious minorities are currently celebrating Christmas and the new year in Iran, which shows the falseness of the statements by American officials," he said. Asefi said the U.S. charges showed its officials "are not well informed about the realities of Iran today." The U.S. State Department in October published a list of five countries - China, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar (a tiny Asian country of 45,000) and Sudan - which it said have a poor record for religious tolerance, opening the way to the imposition of sanctions. Symbolic sanctions were imposed Thursday on the five, which are already under U.S. sanctions on various pretexts. The restrictions will have no practical effect as Secretary of State Madeleine Albright determined the existing measures were sufficient punishment. But Thursday's announcement does mean it will now be more difficult to lift the existing sanctions, as the United States would have to be satisfied the five had ended their alleged violations of religious freedom first. Iran's Christian community consists of 300,000 Armenians and 25,000 Assyrians and Chaldaeans. It also has 27,000 Jews and 50,000 Zoroastrians, who follow Persia's pre-Islamic religion (Majoos). Thirteen Iranian Jews are currently facing trial on charges of spying for Israel in a case that has aroused worldwide Jewish concern. Earlier this year, the White House criticized Iran for allegedly persecuting adherents of the Baha'i faith and called on President Mohammad Khatami to set free all those jailed for their religious beliefs.
The Islamic republic regards Bahai followers as having abandoned Islam.
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