TEHRAN, 24 June 2003 — Iran said yesterday it had identified members of Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network it had in custody and would extradite some to friendly countries. Washington has accused Iran of harboring Al-Qaeda members involved in suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia in May in which 34 people, including eight Americans, were killed.
Iran denies the accusations and says it has arrested hundreds of Al-Qaeda suspects and deported around 500 since the 2001 US-led war in Afghanistan and had detained another group before last month’s Riyadh attacks.
“Our intelligence investigations show ... it is possible to identify many of them and some of them have been identified,” government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh told a news conference.
But the spokesman declined to say how many Al-Qaeda members were in custody or whether any senior members were among them. He said those from states with friendly ties to Iran would be extradited to their home country, but those who had committed crimes against Iran or who were from countries without good relations with Tehran would be prosecuted inside the country.
The United States, which broke ties with Tehran after the 1979 revolution, accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, meddling in postwar Iraq and harboring Al-Qaeda.
Iran rejects all the charges and says it was always ideologically opposed to the strict Al-Qaeda network which Washington accuses of masterminding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on its cities.
Iran also accused the United States of lying in its claims that the Islamic regime is intent on developing nuclear weapons, but reiterated its refusal to unconditionally sign up to tougher UN inspections.
“The Americans take positions on Iran that are based on selective and false information. Unfortunately, lying has become one of the foundations of United States foreign policy,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.
The spokesman was reacting to mounting alarm in Washington that Iran’s atomic energy program is merely a cover for a secret bid to acquire nuclear weapons.
Nevertheless, Asefi again deflected growing international pressure for Iran to immediately and unconditionally sign an additional protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which would allow surprise UN inspections of suspect facilities.
At present, International Atomic Energy Agency teams are only permitted to make pre-arranged visits to declared sites.
IAEA chief Mohamed El-Baradei said last week that Iran should accept a new protocol for inspections “without any conditions”.
Asefi again deflected the demand, and reiterated the sentiment here that Iran was being treated unfairly.
“We have very good relations with Mr. El-Baradei ... but the Islamic republic of Iran cannot accept something that is against its wish,” he said.
