Fearing new temblors, survivors of three strong earthquakes spent a cold night outdoors as officials wrapped up rescue operations after pulling out 70 bodies from under the rubble and rescuing 1,200 others. "Rescue operations are over. The death toll will not increase nor will the figure for the injured," provincial governor, Mohammad Reza Mohseni, told state-run television Saturday. But Mohseni said relief workers have begun clearing the debris and providing survivors with temporary accommodation. Iranian officials have not publicly responded to US President George W. Bush's Friday offer of assistance, but Mohseni's comments suggest that Iran feels it was able to cope with the late Thursday and Friday quakes without foreign help. The US offer was made despite more than 25 years of Iranian animosity towards America and the ongoing dispute over Iran's nuclear programme. Washington says Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charge. The two countries have no diplomatic relations, but the US military provided aid to the residents of Bam after the Silk Road south Iranian city was devastated by an earthquake in 2003 that killed 26,000.
"Almost all the people spent the night outdoors fearing new quakes," Doroud resident Mahmoud Chaharmiri said Saturday. "It was a cold night but we slept without fear of being buried under the rubble," he told the Associated Press by telephone. "Local officials are saying new quakes are not ruled out. That's why people slept outdoors," he said.