US Halts Iran Talks Over Terror Claim

May 22, 2003
Dan De Luce in Tehran, The Guardian

The United States says it has suspended tentative diplomatic discussions with Iran over allegations that Tehran has failed to take action against members of the al-Qaida network based in Iran.

Washington said it had cancelled a scheduled meeting in Geneva this week because of suspicions that the bombings in Saudi Arabia were ordered by al-Qaida members operating out of Iran, US newspapers reported.

"We decided not to continue talks because of what happened in Saudi Arabia and the potential links to people who are now in Iran," an unnamed Bush administration official told the Los Angeles Times.

The suspension of the US-Iran talks may undermine the cautious resumption of communication between the two governments, which have had no diplomatic relations since the 1979 revolution.

Iran has repeatedly denied allegations from the US and European governments that it is giving shelter to al-Qaida, saying it has extradited some 500 suspects following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

A foreign ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, called al-Qaida a "fundamentalist and violent" network yesterday, saying that Tehran was "very serious" about fighting the organisation.

Despite official denials, analysts and European diplomats say hardline elements of Iran's divided leadership are giving protection to a small number of al-Qaida members. Unnamed US officials have been quoted as saying that Said al-Adel, al-Qaida's security chief, may have helped to direct the bombings in Riyadh from Iran.

An Arab-based newspaper has reported that Saad bin Laden, the son of the founder of al-Qaida, operates out of Iran, and US officials have made the same allegation.

Iran's Shia clerics have traditionally had hostile relations with the Wahhabis that dominate al-Qaida and analysts say the shelter allegedly offered to al-Qaida is a matter of dispute within security circles.

Iranian officials and newspapers accuse the Americans of unfairly singling out Iran.

The cancellation of the Geneva meeting comes as a debate rages in the Iranian press about the merits of restoring diplomatic relations with the US. This is part of a wider power struggle in Iran that pits the reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, and his allies against conservative clerics defending the country's theocratic system.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,12858,960987,00.html