Iran allegedly aborts anti-U.S. plot

BigNewsNetwork.com
Thursday 19th August, 2004

Iran reportedly aborted a plot by al-Qaida and radical Iranian
Revolutionary Guards to assassinate U.S. officers in central Asian
countries neighboring Iran.

The Saudi daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat Thursday quoted sources close to
Iranian intelligence, which is controlled by reformists, as saying that
they discovered the plot after intercepting messages between al-Qaida
operatives and Iranian Revolutionary Guards, along with the so-called
Quds Brigade, in Iran.

Iranian intelligence also monitored telephone conversations between a
senior official in the office of Iranian spiritual guide Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei and a senior operative of al-Qaida in Iran.

It said their findings indicated that there is a sensational plot in
which members of Quds Brigade, al-Qaida and the Revolutionary Guards
were involved to assassinate U.S. military personnel and intelligence
officers operating in central Asia, notably in Azerbaijan, Armenia and
Turkmenistan, which are Iran’s neighbors.

The paper said the plot was aimed at drawing Iran into direct
confrontation with the United States as well as countries located on its
northern border.