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Iran: Washington Cancels Nuclear Talks Over Terrorism Allegations Quietly held U.S.-Iranian talks — that included discussion of Iran’s nuclear activities — have broken down after the terrorist bombings of several housing complexes in Saudi Arabia last week, USA Today reported today (see GSN, May 21). In a break from long-term hostility, U.S. and Iranian diplomats have met three times in Geneva this year and discussed a range of topics, including Iran’s nuclear development (see GSN, May 12). The last meeting was held May 3, but both sides have recently accused the other of supporting terrorism, and Washington canceled a scheduled meeting in Geneva yesterday, the USA Today reported. The United States has alleged that Iran is sheltering al-Qaeda terrorists involved in last week’s attacks in Saudi Arabia. Iranian officials say the United States has failed to take appropriate action against the Mujahedin-e-Khalq, an anti-Iranian group based in Iraq that Washington calls a terrorist organization. “Our information is that you have not disarmed the Mujahedin, and it is the height of hypocrisy for the United States to be criticizing Iran, which has captured more al-Qaeda than any other country,” said a senior Iranian diplomat (Barbara Slavin, USA Today, May 22). The latest barbs traded between the two countries come a day after Iranian U.N. Ambassador Mohammed Javad Zarif said Tehran had arrested several al-Qaeda members. “We have carried out several important operations against several cells, and we have captured them and put them in prison,” Zarif said. “We now have a large security net in the eastern provinces to find suspicious elements. We have done this at a cost of several operations against us by people connected with al-Qaeda,” he added. U.S. officials, however, claim that high-ranking al-Qaeda members are currently in Iran. “There’s no question but that there have been and are today senior al-Qaeda leaders in Iran, and they are busy,” Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said (Robin Wright, Los Angeles Times, May 22).
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