Iran acknowledged for the first time Sunday it has convicted some Iranian nationals of supporting al-Qaida, saying the number was fewer than five. "A few pro-al-Qaida Iranian nationals have been tried and convicted," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters at his weekly press briefing.
| Note that "Iranian nationals" is stressed. To me that means locals who they suspected were more loyal to al-Qaida than to Iran. Or just anti-Black Turban types they are pretending are al-Qaida. Plus, all of the senior al-Qaida members suspected of being in Iran are Sunni Arab, rather than Iranian Shiite. |
Their number, he said, is less than "the fingers on one's hand," he was quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying. He did not say when they were convicted, what sentences they had received, what sort of support they had provided Osama bin Laden's terror network or give any other details. Asefi said cases of foreign nationals in Iran with alleged links to al-Qaida are still under investigation and no trial dates have been set, IRNA reported. |