Iran Announces It Will Try Al-Qaeda Suspects Instead of Extraditing Them

On September 24, 2003, Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi announced that Iran would try suspected al-Qaeda activists and will deny U.S. demands for their extradition to home countries. This comes after the U.S. broke off contact with Iran over suicide bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May. They claimed that Iran harbored those who had planned the attacks. The U.S. hoped they would be tried in countries with whom they had stronger ties, in order to gain intelligence and a stronger sentence.