Iran Seen Easing Restrictions on al-Qaeda Operatives

Iran is suspected by some U.S. officials of relaxing restrictions on the movement al-Qaeda members who have been in custody in the country for years and might have delivered tangible support to the terrorist organization, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Up to five operatives have been held in Iran since 2003. They are al-Qaeda's management wing and include formerly close advisers to Osama bin Laden and a bomb specialist who is seen to have the capacity to take a leading role in the network. Tehran refutes accusations it has any ties with al-Qaeda.

Some U.S. officials see signs that Iranian officials have supplied al-Qaeda members with aid in the form of organizational support, funds and vehicles, said an anonymous source who has been apprised of recent events. Others caution that intelligence from inside Iran is particularly spotty. 

There are also concerns that some U.S. decision leaders could seek to use indications of Iranian aid to al-Qaeda as cause to use armed force against the Middle Eastern state. Washington is consumed with worries that Iran is approaching a nuclear-weapon capability; Tehran insists its atomic ambitions are entirely nonmilitary in nature. Even within the population of U.S. government  staffers who believe Tehran has relaxed restrictions on detained al-Qaeda members, there are contested views as to whether that indicates a notable relationship between Iran and the terrorist group.

Some U.S. officials argue it is too soon to make predictions about Iran's plans and warn against rushing to conclusions that the nation now represents an immediate danger. "Al-Qaeda moving fighters or money is one thing, while planning major terrorist attacks against the West from Iranian soil is probably something (Iran) won't allow," a U.S. official said. Tehran and the terrorist group are hardly natural allies. While al-Qaeda espouses hard-line Sunni Muslim views, Iran is a fundamentalist Shiite country. They also have different geopolitical visions for the Middle East.

Former Clinton and Bush White House national security official Hillary Leverett gave a vigorous argument for not assuming an al-Qaeda-Iran relationship. She pointed out that Tehran has expelled in excess of 200 al-Qaeda members who have slipped into the country and has even supplied the United Nations with identifying information on the repatriated operatives. "I think (there) is a war-fevered hysteria that is going on now. A lot of this stuff is really flimsy and is really questionable," Leverett said.

Even if Tehran has relaxed restrictions on the movement of al-Qaeda members, it does not necessarily correlate that the Iranian government has allied with the terrorist group but instead is attempting to unsettle and distract the United States, she said.