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American Morning

Interview With Eric Margolis

Aired May 26, 2003 - 09:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to turn now to new tensions between the U.S. and Iran, with Iran claiming the U.S. has broken off all informal contacts. The issue? Al Qaeda. The U.S. accuses Iran of harboring terrorists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Of course they are, they have senior al Qaeda in Iran. That's a fact. Iran is one of the countries that is, in our view, assessed as developing a nuclear capability and that's unfortunate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The accusation doesn't sit well with Iran. It's ambassador to the U.N. spoke out yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAVAD ZARIF, IRAN'S U.N. AMBASSADOR: If there are al Qaeda people, they are either unknown to us, operating in places that we have not been able yet to detect -- and we would welcome any information that could help us in detecting and arresting them -- or they are in custody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Terrorism expert Eric Margolis is with us this morning from Davey, Florida with more on this dispute.

Good morning to you, Eric, and thank you for being here.

ERIC MARGOLIS, CORRESPONDENT, "TORONTO SUN": Good morning.

COLLINS: How many al Qaeda operatives do you think there are in Iran?

MARGOLIS: If there are operatives there, I would think the number would be very small. I would think that they are not unknown by the government of Iran. I don't think they're there by the invitation of the Iranian government and if they are there, they are probably in the Iranian province of Baluchistan, a vast desert area over which the central government in Teheran does not have much control. It's on the Pakistani border. The Baluchi tribes move freely backwards and forwards. They're very pro-Taliban. They were, would probably shelter any al Qaeda people.

But it's sort of a no man's land, like the tribal territories on Pakistan's northwest frontier.

COLLINS: So I wonder, Eric, if you think that the Iranian government doesn't have much control over this area, does it, is it possible that that could make this small group of al Qaeda that you believe to be there more dangerous?

MARGOLIS: Well, they're always dangerous wherever they are, but as I said, it's a very remote area with very bad communications. I'm personally surprised that al Qaeda would be broadcasting in the open. The American government claims to have picked up radio intercepts, telecommunications intercepts of al Qaeda. Most of the al Qaeda information and messages are now going through courier.

COLLINS: Now, talk to me if you would, about the latest U.S. concerns over the possibility that al Qaeda operations chief, Saif Al- Adel, could possibly have been working out of Iran and had something to do with the latest terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia.

Do you feel that that's a possibility?

MARGOLIS: Yes, I do. Saif Al-Adel is a, is now, has moved up the ranks due to the killing or capture of senior al Qaeda leaders. He's now moved up from a junior to a mid-high level position as an important field commander. He may very well have been linked to the Saudi attacks. So the Saudis have also indicated.

But once again I say we have to be very cautious about Washington's claims that Iran is somehow behind this, because, in fact, Iran and al Qaeda were bitter, bitter enemies for many, many years. Al Qaeda was an ally of Taliban, which was fighting Iran, a bitter enemy, fighting Iran's proxy in Afghanistan, Achmed Massoud.

And the Iranians, in fact, have been turning over large numbers of al Qaeda suspects to Arab states allied with the United States.

COLLINS: So do you think that they are doing enough, then, the Iranian government, to turn over these al Qaeda suspects?

MARGOLIS: I, from what I have seen, I believe that they are, and the reason being that the Iranians are very worried that Washington may be getting ready to attack Iran. Israel's Prime Minister Sharon has been calling relentlessly for the United States to invade and overthrown the Iranian government. So the Iranians, I think, are trying to keep a very low profile, not provoke the United States.

However, comma, that doesn't mean that there are still some smaller factions in Iran who are sheltering al Qaeda. It is possible but not with the official approval of the government in Teheran.

COLLINS: Terrorism expert Eric Margolis this morning, live from Florida.

We appreciate it.

MARGOLIS: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired May 26, 2003 - 09:09   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to turn now to new tensions between the U.S. and Iran, with Iran claiming the U.S. has broken off all informal contacts. The issue? Al Qaeda. The U.S. accuses Iran of harboring terrorists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Of course they are, they have senior al Qaeda in Iran. That's a fact. Iran is one of the countries that is, in our view, assessed as developing a nuclear capability and that's unfortunate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The accusation doesn't sit well with Iran. It's ambassador to the U.N. spoke out yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAVAD ZARIF, IRAN'S U.N. AMBASSADOR: If there are al Qaeda people, they are either unknown to us, operating in places that we have not been able yet to detect -- and we would welcome any information that could help us in detecting and arresting them -- or they are in custody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Terrorism expert Eric Margolis is with us this morning from Davey, Florida with more on this dispute.

Good morning to you, Eric, and thank you for being here.

ERIC MARGOLIS, CORRESPONDENT, "TORONTO SUN": Good morning.

COLLINS: How many al Qaeda operatives do you think there are in Iran?

MARGOLIS: If there are operatives there, I would think the number would be very small. I would think that they are not unknown by the government of Iran. I don't think they're there by the invitation of the Iranian government and if they are there, they are probably in the Iranian province of Baluchistan, a vast desert area over which the central government in Teheran does not have much control. It's on the Pakistani border. The Baluchi tribes move freely backwards and forwards. They're very pro-Taliban. They were, would probably shelter any al Qaeda people.

But it's sort of a no man's land, like the tribal territories on Pakistan's northwest frontier.

COLLINS: So I wonder, Eric, if you think that the Iranian government doesn't have much control over this area, does it, is it possible that that could make this small group of al Qaeda that you believe to be there more dangerous?

MARGOLIS: Well, they're always dangerous wherever they are, but as I said, it's a very remote area with very bad communications. I'm personally surprised that al Qaeda would be broadcasting in the open. The American government claims to have picked up radio intercepts, telecommunications intercepts of al Qaeda. Most of the al Qaeda information and messages are now going through courier.

COLLINS: Now, talk to me if you would, about the latest U.S. concerns over the possibility that al Qaeda operations chief, Saif Al- Adel, could possibly have been working out of Iran and had something to do with the latest terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia.

Do you feel that that's a possibility?

MARGOLIS: Yes, I do. Saif Al-Adel is a, is now, has moved up the ranks due to the killing or capture of senior al Qaeda leaders. He's now moved up from a junior to a mid-high level position as an important field commander. He may very well have been linked to the Saudi attacks. So the Saudis have also indicated.

But once again I say we have to be very cautious about Washington's claims that Iran is somehow behind this, because, in fact, Iran and al Qaeda were bitter, bitter enemies for many, many years. Al Qaeda was an ally of Taliban, which was fighting Iran, a bitter enemy, fighting Iran's proxy in Afghanistan, Achmed Massoud.

And the Iranians, in fact, have been turning over large numbers of al Qaeda suspects to Arab states allied with the United States.

COLLINS: So do you think that they are doing enough, then, the Iranian government, to turn over these al Qaeda suspects?

MARGOLIS: I, from what I have seen, I believe that they are, and the reason being that the Iranians are very worried that Washington may be getting ready to attack Iran. Israel's Prime Minister Sharon has been calling relentlessly for the United States to invade and overthrown the Iranian government. So the Iranians, I think, are trying to keep a very low profile, not provoke the United States.

However, comma, that doesn't mean that there are still some smaller factions in Iran who are sheltering al Qaeda. It is possible but not with the official approval of the government in Teheran.

COLLINS: Terrorism expert Eric Margolis this morning, live from Florida.

We appreciate it.

MARGOLIS: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com