Iran’s Secretary of the High Council, Ali Larijani, declared “no al-Qaeda leader can currently be found in the Islamic Republic,” fending off months if not years of speculation there are some high-ranking Al Qaida members inside the nation and being harbored by the Revolutionary Guard.

Arab and Western sources, contrary to what Ali Larijani has stated, are convinced that many of the leaders of the terrorist organisation are still present as refugees in Iran, where they continue to reside thanks to the protection of Islamic militia and certain extremists groups close to the new Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who came to power after the June presidential elections.

The same sources speak of the presence in Iran of the eldest son of the Osama bin Laden, Saad, as well as al-Qaeda’s spokesperson, Suleyman Abu Gaith, and the Egyptian, Saif al Adel, one of the United States’ most wanted terrorists who is believed to be a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda.

Contrary to what Ali Larijani has stated, in August of 2004, the Iranian minister of intelligence of the previous government of Mohammad Khatami had admitted to the presence in Iran of many al-Qaeda leaders whose arrests and trial were imminent. However the then minister of intelligence refused to provide a list of the al-Qaeda members in Iran. (source)

No list from the nation of Iran has ever been made public as to the Al Qaida members whom allegedly were arrested and sent to a trial.

One month ago a rather explosive article concluding who is in Iran and where these particular Al Qaida members were being housed surfaced in Cicero, translated at Winds of Change and covered here at ITB. This was hardly the first time information of high-ranking AQ members inside Iran was mentioned, including the possibility of Osama Bin Laden.

To rehash a bit of the Bin Laden rumors of his whereabouts in Iraq, and they are just rumors because it is clearly not known for sure if he is in Iran, it is believed that following the Coalition strike on Afghanistan Bin Laden fled to Waziristan where he traveled around in a burqa to hide from drones and the Pakistani military. He wrote a letter to the Ayatollah seeking refuge for a guarantee not to attack Iran, appealing that they had a common enemy. Iran agreed and allegedly Bin Laden himself is, or was, housed in Revolutionary Guard homes near bases, which coincidentally are built near Shiite places of worship.

It does seem a bit odd Larijani would have waited one month before striking down these public reports of Al Qaida leaders in Iran, but I do not know the context of his statements. It is all but known his son Saed and the group’s top propogandist, Suleyman Abu Gaith, are inside Iran.

Oblogatory Anecdotes linked with Iran is Months Away From Nukes?