SAUDIS ASSURED IRAN, CRITICISED US REPORTS ON KHOBAR BOMBING
By IPS Diplomatic Correspondent Nina Kamran
RIYADH 14 May (IPS) Saudi Arabia officials assured Iran that they are not part of the "campaign" Washington is waging against Tehran concerning the al Khobar Tower explosion, referring to the bombing of the American military base in 1996, killing 19 US servicemen and wounding more than 400 of them.
Reports carried by American press saying that U.S. investigators have identified a high-ranking Iranian officer of the Revolutionary Guards named Ahmad Sharifi as one of those responsible for planning and carrying out the deadly operation had worried the Iranians, wondering whether Saudi Arabia was behind the leaking.
The blast, from a truck packed with explosives, destroyed part of a high-rise compound inside the King Abdul Aziz Airbase near the giant oil port of Dhahran, in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia.
Citing unnamed sources, CBS Television network said federal investigators had identified several of the suspects linked to the attack and believed that they are hiding in Iran.
Iran rejected the charges as "baseless, put out by people worried because of the warming in relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia".
"They are even more worried, and they show it, as Iran and Saudi Arabia have entered a new era with the signing of a collaboration agreement on security matters", said Mr. Hamid Reza Asefi, Iranian Foreign Ministry’s senior spokesman.
"Sources say approximately 11 months ago investigators got a break in the case and are now awaiting only a few more pieces of evidence from Saudi Arabia before recommending an indictment'', CBS said.
Though the Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al Faisal told journalists that the matter (of al Khobar bombing) was not discussed, but an informed diplomat told Iran Press Service the fact that the ailing Saudi King Fahad received Mr. Kamal Kharrazi, the Iranian Foreign Minister in Jeddah demonstrates the importance of topic discussed between the two sides.
Mr. Kharrazi, made an unscheduled and unexpected "lightening" visit to Jeddah on Saturday and held extensive "instant" talks with the Saudi Crown Prince Amir Abdallah and his Saudi counterpart.
The visit was the first by a senior Iranian official since the two Persian Gulf powers signed a security pact in Tehran on April 17 to fight drug trafficking and terrorism.
"The Saudis assured Mr.Kharrazi that their investigation on the explosion was not yet included, adding that what the American press discloses, quoting FBI of CIA sources, have the US Zionist circles and the Jewish State behind", the diplomat added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Jeddah, Prince Faisal criticised reported U.S. allegations that Iran was involved in the 1996 bombing of a U.S. base in the kingdom, saying such accusations are premature.
"It’s not a good thing to launch accusations here and there regarding a matter on which the investigation hasn't been completed", the Foreign Minister said, having his Iranian counterpart standing next to himself.
However, this part of Prince Faisal’s declarations in answer to journalist’s questions was reported indirectly by the Iranian official news agency IRNA, quoting unidentified "dispatches".
"In his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Amir Abdallah, Kharrazi briefed the Saudi prince on the situation in the region and the Muslim World and said that the enhanced relations between the two powerful Islamic nations would serve to promote relations among the Muslim nations and their cooperation at the international scene", IRNA reported.
The Iranian foreign minister said that closer relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia serves the interests of the regional states and that establishment of a security arrangement in the Persian Gulf would guarantee security of the vital waterway.
Diplomatic sources said American "one sided" backing of Israel, the collapse of the Oslo Agreements and Israel’s policy of "iron fist" against the Palestinian Authority of Chairman Yaser Arafat have also played an important role in improving Iran Saudi ties.
Closer understanding between the two large oil producers firmed up dwindling oil prices in international markets, now hovering around 25 to 28 US dollars per barel against 10 only 15 months ago, analysts noted.
Tehran and Riyadh severed relations in 1988, a year after Iranian Muslim pilgrims in Mecca clashed with Saudi police during an anti-US protest that left more than 400 dead.
Restored in 1991, elations between the two Persian Gulf neighbours warmed dramatically after the landslide victory of Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Khatami in the May 1997 presidential elections.
Khatami made a historic trip to Saudi Arabia in 1999, paving the way for closer co-operation between the two countries. ENDS IRAN SAUDI BOMBING 14501