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White House criticizes Iran's steps against al Qaeda

U.S. still taking 'diplomatic course,' Fleischer says

U.S. still taking 'diplomatic course,' Fleischer says

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The Bush administration is issuing stern warnings about Iran's harboring of terrorists, its nuclear program and its meddling in Iraq. CNN's Kitty Pilgrim reports (May 28)
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Iranian government has taken "insufficient" steps to round up al Qaeda terrorists within its borders, and the United States will continue to press Tehran to stop harboring terrorists and trying to build nuclear weapons, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Tuesday.

However, responding to reports that the United States might consider efforts to destabilize the Iranian regime, Fleischer said the administration remains committed to a "diplomatic course" to persuade Iran to change.

"It's diplomacy that's being pursued," he said. "The future of Iran will be determined by the Iranian people, and I think the Iranian people have a great yearning for government that is representative of their concerns."

Fleischer said the United States believes that al Qaeda operatives have sought refuge in Iran and have done so with the acquiescence of Iranian officials.

"Iran is not exactly the type of nation that people just happen to end up in," he said. "People seem to have a desire to go there, and our concern is that the desire can be matched by a government that allows them to be there."

Iran has denied giving haven to al Qaeda members, and a Foreign Ministry spokesman told the Reuters news agency that Tehran does not want "any interference in our affairs."

Hamid Reza Asefi also told Reuters that Iran would defend itself "with full power."

Administration officials had told CNN on Sunday that a White House meeting on U.S. policy toward Iran, involving deputy secretaries of state and defense, was to take place Tuesday. The meeting never occurred.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he spoke with Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice about reports of such a meeting and "was not aware of what these press reports were referring to." However, he said, U.S. officials periodically discuss Iran.

Despite the recent uptick in criticism of the hard-line Islamic regime in Tehran, Fleischer insisted that U.S. policy toward Iran -- which President Bush branded part of an "axis of evil," along with Iraq and North Korea -- has not changed.

"I wouldn't say there's an increased amount of concern in the White House. I'd just say there's an increased volume of questions, but the policy is unchanged," he said.

Fleischer said the recent deadly bombings in Saudi Arabia have "certainly put this on people's radar screen, and legitimately so." He said U.S. officials are also concerned "about Iranian interference in Iraqi affairs."

Rumsfeld echoed that criticism in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, describing Iran as "a country that has been unhelpful with respect to Iraq."

Rumsfeld said Iranian President Mohammed Khatami, a moderate, tries for reforms, but every time he does, "he gets his leash pulled" by ruling Islamic clerics and "he's stopped from doing that."

"The policy of the United States has been in recent years to attempt to not engage the top two layers of that country, to try to say things and do things that reflect an understanding of the circumstances of the people of that country, and hope that the people of that country will have an opportunity to find ways to persuade the leadership of that country that it is going down the wrong road," Rumsfeld said.

Nuclear 'cover story' alleged

Fleischer also said Iran's claim that its nuclear program is designed to produce fuel for civilian nuclear reactors is a "cover story."

"Our strong position is that Iran is preparing instead to produce fissile materials for nuclear weapons. That is what we see," he said.

An Iranian opposition group says the Iranian government is building two secret nuclear sites that might already be partially operational, producing enriched uranium that could be used in nuclear weapons.

Alireza Jafarzadeh, spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said the Iranian government has "planned it" so it can "be able to get the bomb by 2005."

The NCRI provided detailed information about the previously undisclosed sites -- Lashkar-Abad and Ramandeh, about 25 miles [40 kilometers] west of Tehran -- but offered no direct evidence.

The organization maintains that the Iranian government is building those facilities to protect its nuclear weapons program should its larger, publicly known facilities be targeted by a military strike.

Last year, NCRI revealed the existence of two other nuclear sites, one in Natanz and the other in Arak. The Iranian government has since acknowledged the construction of those facilities and has allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect them. The IAEA is scheduled to meet next month to determine whether Iran has honored its safeguard agreements for the development of nuclear operations.



Reuters contributed to this report.

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