Iran 'foiled al-Qaeda attacks'

Khatami: Iran will arrest any al-Qaeda members it finds

Iran has foiled planned al-Qaeda attacks aimed at the Islamic Republic, officials in Tehran said on Sunday.

But they gave no details or evidence in statements quoted in the Iranian press.

"They carried out a whole range of preparations for terrorist acts on Iranian soil, but... these plans were uncovered and foiled," top security official Hassan Rohani told the official newspaper Iran.

It was the first time Tehran said it had been an al-Qaeda target, but Iran has long opposed the network's former protectors in Afghanistan, the Taleban.

Iran's announcement may be part of its campaign to counter US accusations that it is sheltering suspected members of Osama Bin Laden's network, the BBC's David Chazan says.

But the implicit suggestion that Iran is a priority target of al-Qaeda is unlikely to convince Western analysts, our correspondent adds.

Iran is feeling particular heat from Washington at the moment over its nuclear programme.

Holding suspects

Iran says it is holding suspected al-Qaeda members, but has not identified them or said what will become of them.

Abu Ghaith may be in Iranian hands

Tehran has refused US requests to question the suspects.

Press reports suggest they may include Osama Bin Laden's son Saad.

Egyptian-born Saif al-Adel, believed to be the network's security chief, and Kuwait-born Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, al-Qaeda's spokesman, are also reported to be under arrest.

Speaking after a Cabinet meeting last week, President Mohammed Khatami said: "Al-Qaeda members in our custody will be questioned. If they should be tried (in Iran) they will be. If they should be deported, they will be."

Tehran says it will extradite some al-Qaeda suspects to unspecified "friendly countries" and try those whose citizenship has been revoked and cannot be extradited.

"We will arrest all members of al-Qaeda members we find. Their animosity toward us is nothing compared with their animosity toward the United States," the president said.

INVESTIGATING AL-QAEDA Who's who in al-Qaeda

Asked whether the al-Qaeda suspects it has detained were being held in safe houses or in prison, Mr Khatami said: "They are under arrest."

Iran says it has arrested and deported around 500 al-Qaeda members in the last year, many of whom crossed into Iran from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Some have been sent to Saudi Arabia.

At Wednesday's news conference, the president also denied Iranian press speculation that Tehran secretly asked Washington in late July to resume informal talks.

Tehran and Washington severed diplomatic relations in 1980 after Iran's Islamic revolution.