17 July 2005
3,000 Qaeda men jailed or deported: Iran official
- By AP
Tehran, July 16: Some 3,000 Al Qaeda members have been detained, jailed or tried in Iran or deported from the Persian state, Iran’s intelligence minister told state-run TV on Saturday.
Mr Ali Yunesi, speaking to reporters in the capital Tehran, did not specify when the 3,000 members of the terrorist group were dealt with by Iran. But the number is the largest Iran has provided of members of Osama bin Laden’s terror network being in this country. Iranian officials are normally tight-lipped on security affairs and Mr Yunesi’s comments follow claims by US and foreign intelligence agencies that mounting evidence gathered over several years has them increasingly convinced that leading terror suspects have been living in Iran.
The state-run Iranian TV showed Mr Yunesi’s picture as an announcer quoted the minister announcing that Iranian courts had tried Al Qaeda members and jailed and deported some. Others were apparently still in detention pending further legal action.
None of the Al Qaeda members were identified and no further details were provided by the television station. Iranian officials were not immediately available for comment.
Iran has been under increasing pressure to curb its nuclear program, which the United States claims is aimed at building atomic bombs. Tehran denies such claims, stressing that its nuclear activities have peaceful purposes, including generating electricity.
The minister’s comments are the second by an Iranian official in less than two months revealing that Iran has been arresting and deporting Al Qaeda operatives. Mr Hasan Rowhani, head of the Supreme National Security Council, told reporters in Kuwait on June 6 that Iran had arrested nearly 500 Al Qaeda operatives during the past three years and had handed them over to their home countries.
Mr Rowhani said the terror suspects had been hiding out in Iran, which had given the names of the detainees to the United Nations. Iran, however, denies US Claims that it has been actively harbouring terrorists, saying it has been cooperating in combating terrorism and received praise from international bodies. Iran first said in mid-2003 that it had detained and deported hundreds of Al Qaeda suspects and kept some in custody.
US officials have said Iran refuses to identify the Al Qaeda operatives that are still in its custody.