Evidence that Iranian territory is being used as a base by al-Qaeda to help in terrorist operations in Iraq and elsewhere is growing, say western officials.
| Growing, is it? We've only known about it for - what? Five? Six years? |
It is not clear how much the al-Qaeda operation, described by one official as a money and communications hub, is being tolerated or encouraged by the Iranian government, they said.
| The "government" doesn't. But Iran's not actually run by its "government." It's run from Qom, through the IRGC. |
The groupÂ’s operatives, who link the al-Qaeda leadership in Pakistan with their disciples in Iraq, the Levant and North Africa, move with relative freedom in the country, they said.
| I think Dan Darling said that on his very first post here, lo, these many years ago. |
The officials said the creation of some kind of al-Qaeda hub in Iran appears to be separate from the group of seven senior al-Qaeda figures, including Saad bin Laden, son of the groupÂ’s figurehead, that Iran is said to have detained since 2002.
| "Separate from" is not the same as "separated from." |
A senior US official said the information had produced different assessments. “The most conservative, cautious intelligence assessment is that [the Iranian authorities] are turning a blind eye. But there are a lot of doubts about that,” he said. “They are benefiting from the mayhem that AQ is carrying out. They don’t have to deal with al-Qaeda to benefit.”
| They've been keeping the putative government and the actual government actions separate at least since Khatami was elected. |
Yet while Tehran might be content with the pressure al-Qaeda is placing on the US occupation in Iraq, Iran, as a state based on Shia Islam surrounded by mainly Sunni countries, has long been wary of al-QaedaÂ’s fierce brand of Sunni Islam.
| Yeah, yeah. Whoopdy doo. Tell it to Molotov and Ribbentrop. |
A former Iranian official said Iran feared al-Qaeda and did not want to distract it from Iraq, dismissing any idea that Iran was supplying it with weapons. “Our relationship with al-Qaeda, at an intelligence level, can be said to be successful as long as they are at a distance,” he said.
| We had a young water moccasin make his way into our family room a year or three ago. My relationship with him was successful, as long as he kept his distance. And the broom wasn't too far from my hand. |
Analysts say several Sunni extremist groups, some presumed linked to al-Qaeda and from various ethnic groups including Kurds, are in Iran. US-led military action in Iraq has led some to seek refuge over the border.
| Ansar al-Islam was present on both sides of the border prior to March 2003. |
In the past, Tehran has also been a target of al-Qaeda attacks. A militant Sunni group based in Pakistan and possibly linked to al-Qaeda was suspected of the 1994 bombing of the shrine of the seventh Shia Imam, Reza, in Mashhad, killing 26 people.
| That was... ummm... carry the three, divide by 16, square of the hypotenuse... 13 years ago, in the heyday of Sipah e-Sahaba. Its successor, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, stays at home, mostly, but would be happy to blow up anybody with the wrong shape of turban they could get to in Iran. But they're not al-Qaeda. They're independent contractors who're employed by al-Qaeda. |
Iran has also shown growing concern over Jundullah, a radical Sunni group from the restive south-east area of Baluchestan that has carried out violent attacks in recent years.
| I think Jundullah was a preexisting group that... ummm... recently came into some money. From somewhere. |
Three years ago, Pakistani officials said members of al-Qaeda had begun leaving PakistanÂ’s border region close to Afghanistan and heading for Iraq.
| It's easy enough to just grab a PIA flight from Karachi, but then there's the problem of getting off the plane in Baghdad. It's more discreet to do the romantic donkey route across Iran, with stops at those quaint guest houses offering 1-hour marriages along the way, until you get to Teheran, and then to fly from there to Damascus, for transit to al-Qaim or wherever they come in now. |
Of the routes used, going overland via Iran was the easiest. That traffic might have increased as links between al-Qaeda and its Iraq offshoot intensify.
| Or you could hop the plane in Karachi and fly directly to Damascus if you don't have any business meetings in Iran. |
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