|
Iran denies secret nuclear sites { May 28 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47704-2003May28.html"On the contrary, we believe America is not serious about fighting terrorism. It adopts a double standard policy in confronting them which shows its indecision in dealing with terrorists," he told Reuters.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47704-2003May28.html
Iran Denies Secret Nuclear Sites, Al Qaeda Links
Reuters
Wednesday, May 28, 2003; 5:48 AM
By Paul Hughes
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran on Wednesday denied U.S. allegations that it had secret atomic facilities or links with al Qaeda and accused Washington of double standards in the war on terror.
U.S. officials have increased pressure on Tehran in recent days, accusing it of taking insufficient steps to root out members of al Qaeda in Iran who may have played a role in suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia earlier this month.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said a "handful" of suspects were still being questioned and it was not yet clear whether they could include senior members of Osama bin Laden's network who may have known about the Riyadh attacks.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said on Tuesday the arrests had not quelled U.S. concerns that senior al Qaeda members were still in Iran.
Asked about Fleischer's comments, Asefi turned the tables.
"On the contrary, we believe America is not serious about fighting terrorism. It adopts a double standard policy in confronting them which shows its indecision in dealing with terrorists," he told Reuters.
Iran has expressed concerns that the United States has not dealt firmly with its main opposition threat, the Iraq-based People's Mujahideen militia, despite the fact that it is listed as a terrorist organization by the State Department.
Washington, which broke ties with Tehran shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution, has also accused Iran of interfering in neighboring Iraq, whose leader Saddam Hussein was overthrown by U.S.-led forces last month.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in comments published on Tuesday that the United States would not allow Iraq's neighbors "to remake Iraq in Iran's image."
Senior U.S. policymakers are due to hold a meeting on Iran on Thursday with the Pentagon reportedly pushing for a tougher line including actions to destabilize its clerical rulers.
Thirty four people, including eight Americans, died in the Saudi attacks on May 12, blamed by Washington on al Qaeda.
U.S. officials have also said they want the International Atomic Energy Agency to declare Iran in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The IAEA is due to report on the findings of a February visit to Iran on June 16.
An exiled Iranian opposition group on Tuesday said it had learned of two previously undisclosed nuclear sites related to producing enriched uranium which could be used in bombs.
Iran says its nuclear ambitions are limited to generating electricity and that it has told the IAEA about all of its nuclear facilities. "We don't have any site hidden from the IAEA," Khalil Moosavi, spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, said by telephone.
Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, in a speech to a meeting of foreign ministers from the Organization of the Islamic Conference, said on Wednesday that "media campaigns" were attempting to associate Islam with violence and terrorism.
"Ascribing the fanatic and perverted beliefs of the Taliban and al Qaeda terrorist organization to Islam...is a deceitful tactic and a conspiracy to contain the spread of Islamism and Islamic tendencies in the world," he said. (Additional reporting by Parinoosh Arami)
© 2003 Reuters
|
|
