Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said on Monday in Tehran that any probable attack by the United States against Iran would be an “irreparable mistake”, according to IRNA.
Speaking with domestic and foreign journalists, he discharged recent accusations made by U.S. top officials that Iran is providing safe haven to members of Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda group, that have allegedly entered Iran. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has full control over its long joint borders with Afghanistan,” he firmly declared.
What Iran did in Afghanistan was in response to a perceived duty towards the country, he said. He added, however, that it does not follow that Iran would offer shelter to Al-Qaeda group members, as it would not be in the interests of the country. Furthermore, Al Qaeda’s ideological views are strongly opposed to those of the Islamic Republic.
Moreover, Asefi emphasized that Iran's activities in the field of nuclear weapons are under constant supervision of the United Nations. “The recent U.S. accusations against Iran are inspired and dictated by the Zionist regime,” Asefi announced.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Sunday that there ‘isn't any doubt” that Tehran helped Al-Qaeda and Taliban members escape into Iran from the neighboring country of Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Iran’s former Revolutionary Guard chief Mohsen Rezai has denied U.S. claims that members of the al-Qaeda group were in Iran.
“Members of the Taliban and the al-Qaeda network were much more active in the United States than elsewhere, and they led their terrorist operations from American soil,’ stated Rezai, who is currently secretary-general of the nation's powerful Expediency Council which arbitrates in disputes between the institutions of the Islamic regime.
Rezai, currently on a private visit to Paris, added that “the Iranian-Afghan borders are minutely controlled and no member of the al-Qaeda forces has been authorized to enter Iran.” (Albawaba.com)
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