- News>
- World
US has cut ties with Iran, may consider `destabilising` govt
Washington, May 25: The US has suspended contacts with Tehran and appears ready to consider `public and private actions` to `destabilise` the Iranian government, in the wake of intelligence inputs that al-Qaeda operatives hiding there had a hand in the Riyadh bombing, a media report said here today.
Washington, May 25: The US has suspended contacts with Tehran and appears ready to consider "public and private actions" to "destabilise" the Iranian government, in the wake of intelligence inputs that al-Qaeda operatives hiding there had a hand in the Riyadh bombing, a media report said here today.
Senior officials of the Bush administration will meet Tuesday at the White House to discuss the strategy towards Iran, with Pentagon officials suggesting actions that could lead to a popular uprising to topple the government, the 'Washington Post' quoted administration officials as saying.
The State Department appears inclined to accept such an aggressive policy if Iran does not take visible steps to deal with suspected al-Qaeda members before Tuesday, it said.
Though US President George W Bush last year termed Iran as part of an "axis of evil" with Iraq and North Korea, signs of engagement between Iran and the US had emerged before and during the war against Iraq.
But after the May 12 bombing, the US cancelled a planned meeting with Iranian officials, after intelligence intercepts about the role of al-Qaeda men hiding in the country in the attacks that killed 34 people, including nine suicide bombers.
Earlier this week, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused Iran of harbouring al Qaeda members, a charge Iran has vehemently denied.
An administration official told the 'Post' that fewer than a dozen al-Qaeda members appear to be located in an isolated area of northeastern Iran, but it was not clear how much control the government has over the area. "I don't think the elected government knows much about it," he said.
Bureau Report
Senior officials of the Bush administration will meet Tuesday at the White House to discuss the strategy towards Iran, with Pentagon officials suggesting actions that could lead to a popular uprising to topple the government, the 'Washington Post' quoted administration officials as saying.
The State Department appears inclined to accept such an aggressive policy if Iran does not take visible steps to deal with suspected al-Qaeda members before Tuesday, it said.
Though US President George W Bush last year termed Iran as part of an "axis of evil" with Iraq and North Korea, signs of engagement between Iran and the US had emerged before and during the war against Iraq.
But after the May 12 bombing, the US cancelled a planned meeting with Iranian officials, after intelligence intercepts about the role of al-Qaeda men hiding in the country in the attacks that killed 34 people, including nine suicide bombers.
Earlier this week, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused Iran of harbouring al Qaeda members, a charge Iran has vehemently denied.
An administration official told the 'Post' that fewer than a dozen al-Qaeda members appear to be located in an isolated area of northeastern Iran, but it was not clear how much control the government has over the area. "I don't think the elected government knows much about it," he said.
Bureau Report