"Accusations by the United States that they were behind the Riyadh attacks are false because they were in prison at the time," said Kharazi

TEHRAN, May 30 (IslamOnline.net.net & News Agencies) – Iran gainsaid Friday, May 30, U.S. allegations that al-Qaeda members in the country played a role in this month's triple bomb attacks in Saudi Arabia, reiterating readiness for full U.N inspection of its nuclear facilities.

The suspected al-Qaeda members already in custody were arrested before the May 12 attacks on western targets in Saudi Arabia and could not, therefore, have been involved in the planning of the blasts, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi averred.

"Accusations by the United States that they were behind the Riyadh attacks are false because they were in prison at the time," he was quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as saying.

Kharazi was responding to allegations Iran has been allowing Al-Qaeda leaders to establish a base of operations in the country after they were ejected from Afghanistan during the U.S.-led invasion.

"Prisoners cannot control a military mission. They are under tight control and they have no contact with the outside world," said the Iranian minister.

He said that if any country had information about al Qaeda members at large in Iran they should inform Tehran, which would act quickly to arrest them.

"We are fulfilling our duties. It is the others who should fulfill their duties," Kharazi said.

The Iranian foreign minister said the latest attacks showed Washington was losing its battle against Al-Qaeda.

"The U.S. has lost its fight against Al-Qaeda and because of that they are facing new explosions and terrorist attacks every day and they cannot hide this by accusing others," he said.

U.S. President George W. Bush said earlier in the day that he thought Iran would respond to U.S. requests to detain any members of Al-Qaeda who may be on the loose in the Islamic republic.

"(Iranians) have heard our message loud and clear, and I suspect they will," said Bush

"We just want the Iranians to understand that if there are al-Qaeda loose in Iran we expect them to be detained. If there are al-Qaeda in Iran and they plot against the United States, that obviously we're going to be displeased with that," he said.

"My hope, of course, is that the Iranians respond. And they've heard our message loud and clear, and I suspect they will," Bush said.

Following the Riyadh blasts, in which eight U.S. nationals died, fingers were pointed at Egyptian-born Saif al-Adel, thought to have taken over as Al-Qaeda number-three from military operations chief Mohammed Atef, who was believed killed during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

‘Make Us Laugh’

Kharazi also hit back at U.S. and British allegations of meddling in Iraq, and in turn accused Washington of seeking to strip Iraqis of their rights and impose a puppet government.

"These accusations make us laugh. These countries have occupied Iraq and then they accuse us of interfering," the minister told reporters.

"The United States has a long-term program in Iraq. They want to strip Iraqis of their most basic right, which is to determine their future, prevent the Iraqis from choosing their own government and impose an American government," he charged.

IAEA Welcomed

The Iranian foreign minister said that his country is ready to sign the additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) allowing tougher inspections, but only on the condition that "sanctions and pressure" directed at the Islamic republic are first lifted.

"We are ready to sign it if the sanctions and pressure on Iran are lifted," Kharazi said, underling the obligations of NPT signatories to aid fellow members to acquire peaceful nuclear technology.

Tehran has been accused by the U.S. of using an atomic energy program as a cover for illicit development of nuclear weapons, a charge Iran vigorously denies.

The United States has also been pressuring Russia to end its construction of a nuclear power plant in Bushehr, southern Iran, although Russia has so far resisted the pressure.

Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumantsyev said Washington should join in the construction of the Bushehr plant.

Kharazi said he had nothing against a possible American contribution to the construction.

The possession of weapons of mass destruction was the main justification the U.S. and Britain used to invade Iraq though no chemical, biological or nuclear arms were found so far.

Oil Thieves

"I believe Iran is not a place that could be easily harmed and whoever wants to raise a hand against Iran, his hand will be cut off," said Rafsanjani

Influential former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani warned that "Iran is not a place that could be easily harmed and whoever wants to raise a hand against Iran, his hand will be cut off.

"The American leaders can be sure if they want to conspire against Iran, the Allah of Islam, of the Koran and the revolution, then the valiant and brave Iranian people will foil the plot," Rafasanjani told worshippers at Friday prayers, triggering cries of "Death to America."

The senior Iranian scholar contended that the U.S. policy toward Iran was based on the misconception that Iranians no longer supported the country's Islamic leaders.

"Unfortunately, the Americans...mistakenly believe that in Iran public and national opinion does not support their revolution, system and leadership.

"The nation, the scholars and the power of the revolution have not been weakened in Iran," said Rafsanjani, who heads the Expediency Council, the country's top arbitration body.

Rafsanjani accused the occupation forces of being only there to steal the country’s oil reserves, the second largest in the world after Saudi Arabia’s.

Washington cut off discrete diplomatic contacts with Iran and the Pentagon is said to push for get-tough measures aimed at destabilizing the Iranian regime.

But a policy meeting on Iran has been put off indefinitely due to splits in Washington over the right approach to the Islamic Republic.

Diplomats and analysts in Tehran assert that while desire for change among Iran's predominantly youthful population is strong, the perception in some U.S. circles that the country is ripe for "regime change" is far-fetched.