UNITED NATIONS, New York -- Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi has criticized 'America's hardliners' and called on the U.S. to avoid from interfering in Iran's internal affairs, IRNA reported.

Speaking at a question and answer session on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting on Tuesday, Kharrazi also renewed demand that Washington apologizes for its anti-Iran policies and unfreezes the country's assets.

"America is still interfering in Iran's internal affairs, the obvious example of this being President George Bush's recent statements in which he had called on the Iranian people to riot," he said.

President Bush has dubbed Iran as part of an 'axis of evil' along with Iraq and North Korea for allegedly trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction, which Tehran has rejected.

Kharrazi recalled Iranians' past grievances against the U.S., saying American rulers were still reluctant to accept that there was no way to return to the time of the defunct shah.

"Washington's hardliners should accept maturity of the Iranian nation. America does not want yet to apologize for the 1953 coup and return Iran's frozen assets," he added in reference to the CIA engineered coup which toppled the government of Mohammad Mosaddeq.

Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic ties after the U.S. severed its relations with the Islamic Republic after 'students following the line of imam' stormed U.S. Embassy in Tehran known as "Den of Espionage" and took its staff hostage.

"The two sides should make their intention clear in their relations," Kharrazi said.

"Although we have indicated our good will in several fields, including in Afghanistan by having the most cooperation in the UN framework, the American president and other officials of that country have been using an improper literature against us," he added.

Kharrazi also renewed Iran's rejection of U.S. claims that members of Al-Qaeda were being given sanctuary in the Islamic Republic.

"This is one example of many cases that prove non-sincerity of the likes of U.S. Defense Minister Donald Rumsfeld," he said.

Iran has arrested and extradited all suspected members of Al-Qaeda upon entering the country through the 1,700 km border from Afghanistan and Pakistan, Kharrazi added.

"Instead of guessing, America now had better submit to U.S. any information it may have on the presence of this group's members in Iran so that we could arrest them," he said.

Kharrazi also welcomed Iraq's announcement of readmitting weapons inspectors into that country, saying he hoped this would reduce tensions in the region.

He also called on Baghdad to "sincerely cooperate" with the UN inspectors to avert a regional crisis amid U.S. threats to attack Iraq.

"Now it is up to the United Nations to dispatch its inspectors into Iraq in the earliest in order to relieve the region from tensions and inflammation," Kharrazi said.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic would not stand idle if a war breaks out in its next door neighbor, Iraq, he said.

"Iran cannot remain indifferent to developments in the region and will take action according to its national interests and exigencies," Kharrazi said.

He also ruled out U.S. steps for government change in Iraq, saying it was only up to the Iraqi people to choose their own rulers.

"We think that the Iraqi people should determine what type of a government they want and no foreign country, regardless of its strength, is entitled to change governments," he said.