US: The US's tough line on Iran is partly driven by intelligence reports that al-Qaeda leaders are being sheltered there, writes Julian Borger.
Al-Qaeda terrorist leaders suspected by the Bush administration of taking refuge in Iran include Saif al-Adel, an Egyptian believed to have risen to number three in the organisation, and Abu Mohammed al-Masri, a suspected organiser of the 1998 embassy bombings in east Africa.
They may also include Saad bin Laden, one of Osama bin Laden's sons.
The trail of clues surfaced after an air crash in February outside the city of Kerman in south-east Iran which killed 200 soldiers from the revolutionary guards. According to a Washington source, the crash produced intelligence that the revolutionary guards were "hosting" the al- Qaeda leaders.
Washington was prepared to accept Tehran's claims that it was dealing with al-Qaeda infiltration, and that terror suspects in Iran were all in custody, until this month's suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia. US officials claimed that electronic communications about the attacks were traced back to Iran and to the al-Qaeda leaders.
The intelligence reports have generated fresh urgency in the White House to reconsider the current US containment policy towards Iran. That review was already under way in light of mounting evidence on the surprisingly rapid progress of Tehran's nuclear programme.
According to a report in Newsday yesterday, the Pentagon now believes that the Iranian project to build a nuclear weapon has "passed the point of no return" and that Tehran no longer needs foreign assistance to build a bomb.
Until now, Washington has been putting pressure on Moscow to halt the participation of Russian companies in building a nuclear reactor at Bushehr. The new intelligence assessment implies that such diplomatic pressure may now be futile.
An intelligence source in Washington, however, said the CIA had a "different take" on Iran's programme, suggesting that it may still require outside expertise.
The Iranian government has told the US via United Nations intermediaries that al-Qaeda officials are in custody, but the Bush administration rejects those assurances. "The steps that the Iranians claim to have taken in terms of capturing al-Qaeda are insufficient," Mr Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, said.
"It is important that Iran lives up to its commitments and obligations not to harbour terrorists."
The Pentagon is pushing for an aggressive policy aimed at "regime change" in Tehran, through an increase in assistance to opposition groups.
Mr Douglas Feith, the undersecretary of defence for policy, is promoting the idea of reconstituting elements of the Iraq-based Mujahideen Khalq (MEK) - possibly under a new name - to destabilise the Iranian government.
The suggestion of its possible use has caused an uproar in the state department and in Britain, where the foreign secretary, Mr Jack Straw, insists that his policy of engagement with Iraq's reformist president, Mr Mohammad Khatami, has paid dividends. - (Guardian service)