Iran announces al-Qaeda arrests

I think this has been covered before, but where did they deport these AQ too? Have they turned over any AQ that they arrested to the US or to other members of the US led coalition?

 

They've turned most of them over to their countries of origin, not the US. There have also been many rumors that Iran is still holding some key Al-Qaeda figures under house arrest. I'm not sure how much stock to place in the notion, but it certainly wouldn't fall outside the realm of possible. If I were in charge, I'd put a bullet in the back of each of their filthy little heads.

 

I'm sure someone will disagree (and we know who that is) but FWIU Saudi has caught AQ members "hiding" in Iran.

 

I have heard those rumors too including Bin Laden's son. I agree with the sentiment of putting a bullet in their heads, but really I would rather see them turned over to the NYPD.

 

wow, saudis operating inside Iran...

I suspect that if the saudis are able to operate inside Iran they will more likely help AQ than else, for example in Arabstan.

Is there a limit to what BS "iran lovers" in the USA would buy?
I am starting to think there's no limit, they would believe anything.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/18/world/main554415.shtml

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/07/13/binladen.aide/

 

Not something different than what iranians themselves are saying.

 

Yes it is different because Iran wants to take credit for fighting the taliban while being encouraging towards the anti al Saud elements of AQ and actively supporting Hezbolla.

I'm not saying Iran doesn't do anything that anyone else in central Asia does, i.e. support the enemy of it's enemy, but it's not any better either and the status quo is not acceptable.

 

First, the evidence is never unequivocal. There will always be contradictions and doubts in anything like this. Second, we have the overall theme that countries in central Asia use terrorism and other forms of intimidation to keep their neighbors at bay. It's been that way for 1000s of years. So we really aren't accusing Iran of anything that every tribe hasn't done nor most every government isn't doing. For instance, our "great ally" in the WOT, Pakistan, is supporting parts of AQ against India.

So we are at a pass. One "side" is defending against the idea that Iran is the greatest supporter of terrorism. The other side is arguing against the idea that Iran is innocent. The truth is that Iran is at the forefront of sponsoring terrorism but on par with others.

The point with Iran is that we, the West, have little ability to affect their policy short of war. With other countries, i.e Pakistand and Saudi Arabia, there is some sense that we can get somewhere talking and finding a mutual path. With Iran the sense is that it feels that if it's neighbors were more afraid and more intimidated then it would be safer. I think they think a nuke would be a great way to intimidate their neighbors.

 

do you honestly believe that AQ actually needs any help from anyone to carry out terrorist attacks in KSA?.... there are millions of ppl (almost everyone outside royal family, including very very rich Wahabee characters) in Saudi Arabia ready to fund, plan and perform these things! to think that AQ has fallen this low to actually get any help from Iran (or any country) to terrorize their hometown is just being ignorant or wishful (take your pick!)

 

Wha?

I think that anyone who thinks that members of AQ don't get help from people outside KSA is being ridiculous.

 

Iran shares a long border with Afghanistan and Pakistan. Through that border, illegal immigrants and drug trafficers have poured into Iran for several years. They might occasionally get through even bribing some border guard in this remote desolate region, or by crossing border points that are unguarded. But they get through, even though hundreds of Iranian security guards die every year fighting them.

Once they make it accross the border, Iranian Sistan and Baluchistan provinces are the poorest regions of Iran. The border regions with Afghanistan and Pakistan is not one Iranians would travel to safely, and are indeed dangerous. The Baluchis are mostly sunni Moslems, and include tribes that fight the government regularly supporting various bandits and drug traffickers.

Within that context, I am sure Al Queda affiliated individuals have crossed into Iran and occasionally found some shelter in Baluchistan. If that makes Iran complicit in what Al Queda does, then indeed the US is complicit in 9/11 and Britain in July 7, Spain in the Madrid bombing, and the new Iraqi government in the terrorist attacks taking place there every day.

Otherwise, the suggestion is offensive. Not because Al Queda decided to fight American and the British too, but because Al Queda have killed many Iranians and many of Iran's allies among the shia! Even now, they are as busy (if not more busy) killing Iranians and shia as the occasional attacks they are able to carry about against Westerners.

As for Iran using them against the Saudis, that is preposterous. Iran does not need to deal with people committed to killing shia and Iranians to cause trouble for the Saudis. The oil region in Saudi Arabia is in regions where the shia are a majority. And the shia in Saudi Arabia are unhappy with the Saudi government. If Iran ever needed to create problems for Saudi Arabia, it has the organization and the support base among groups close to it, to turn Saudi Arabia's oil region upside down. It does not need Al Queda!

Incidentally, just a few days ago, a sunni terrorist from Baluchistan, the kind that work with Al Queda like groups, beheaded an Iranian security agent they had abducted in Iran, with tapes of it sent to various Arab channels to public airing.

 

the keywords were "terrorizing KSA itself"

 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-06-04-iran-terrorism_x.htm

Imagine that. The Iranian sponsored terror group has a Saudi wing. Who would have guessed?

Tell you what. Iran turns over all terrorists over to their country of origin, ends it's nuclear program and I won't ask my government to whack them. Fair enough?

 

Does Iran have a work release program?

 

Saudi Arabia's oil rich region is predominately shia and Hezbollah does have links to people in that region. So does Iran. For instance, there is evidence that Iran might have been indirectly involved in the bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, which was before Khatami became president and changed Iran's policies in this area and before Iran-Saudi relations improved dramatically.

Regardless, Iran has no links whatsoever to Al Queda. Iran hates that group with a vengenace. For its own reasons, not because it wants to appease the US. Al Queda, as recently has last week, brutally beheaded an Iranian security agent. It has been involved in killing lots of Iranians and many more shias in places such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and now Iraq.

Trying to link Al Queda to Iran is a good way for some in the US to whip up anti-Iranian sentiments, while aiming to reduce Iran's influence among the Iraqi shias who naturally hate Al Queda for its daily carnage targetting them. The same way Iran's repeated attempts to link Al Queda to the US, Israel, and the like, serves the same purpose for Iran. Iran's allegations, of course, have slighly more merit. Al Queda did at one point get US support. At no point have Iran and Al Queda worked together. Whatever reports you read to the contrary are either misinformed or lies, or confuse distinct issues.

I don't think Iran denies links to Al Queda because of what you imagine, i.e. to appease the US! Iran denies any links to Al Queda because they are not true, because Iran despises the group, because Iran's allies despise the group, For instance, the recent roundup of suspected Al Queda sympathisers (among more than a million Afghan refugees and illegals in Iran) had to do with two things: the beheading of an Iranian security agent, and the visit to Iran by Iraq's prime minister which Iran felt might lead to an Al Queda attack.

Otherwise, when it comes American demands that Iran hand the Al Queda suspects it holds in custody to the US, I don't see Iran budging. Iran does not have relations with the US and will not hand anyone to the US, except as an exchange for terrorists that the US shelters openly and indeed supports covertly.

Similarly, Iran's motives in trying to work a deal with the EU is not about fear of the US "whacking Iran". Just a couple days ago, Iran reiterated that no security guarantee, no economic incentive, not even if the US and the EU promise Iran the world in economic benefits, would cause Iran to give up its nuclear program. If Iran was interested in just a "better deal", that is not the signal it would give. Iran wants the world, even without US/Israel, to recognize Iran's legitimate rights under the NPT. Iran's position to the EU, which tries to get Iran to compromise by using the threat of US attacks, is as follows: you do your part and act right, leave Iran to worry about the US and Israel.

Iran's regime, incidentally, is the most "implacable" foe of the US for this simple reason: it refuses to budge to US threats. It does its own thing, and does not hide its anti-American ideology. It regularly parades it for everyone to see.

 

I believe it is called Hezbollah.

 

It's axiomatic that if Hezbolla has ties to the people in the region that Iran has links to the people in that region. You seem to make a distinction between Hezbolla and Iran. Most people do not.

So you admit that there is evidence that Iran might have been indirectly involved in a terrorist attack against Saudi Arabia.

No. Iran hates the Taliban. There is a difference between AQ and the Taliban. Iran has contacts with terrorists that "might have been indirectly involved in the bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia."

By refusing to budge to US threats they are sealing their own fate.

 

Iran hates Al Queda as well as the Taleban. Al Queda is a sunni group that is responsible for killing Iranians and Iran's friends. Their ideology is every bit as virulently anti-shia (who they consider heretics that deserve to die) as it is anti-Western.

I cannot admit things on behalf of Iran. But I do believe there was evidence that Iran had links to the bombing of the US military barrack in Khobar Towers. The best way to know if those reports were true is to determine whether Al Queda was the one which carried that operation, or the Saudi branch of Hezbollah -- a shia, not sunni, group. If it was the former, Iran definitely was not invovled. If the latter, Iran was very likely involved. Of course, all that was before Khatami was elected.

I am sure Iran would take its chances, provided the EU and the rest of the world did not join the US. Now, if the US succeeds in totally isolating Iran from the rest of the world, and Iran is forced to fight against a superpower knowing even victory means becoming a N.Korea, maybe Iran will budge?

You see, Iran is not afraid of American or Israeli threats per se. It knows it had what it takes to deter them. What it fears is being left isolated from the rest of the world.

 

Can I get some sort of tracker, which counts how many times IM uses the word Israel in his posts? Then we can have start taking some bets who gets the closest to the actual number.

 

Let's not forget the bomb at the Jewish Community Center in Argentina.