Report: Iran arrests 5 members of al Qaeda

07 September 2011 | 15:03 Code : 16073 Latest Headlines

(CNN) -- Investigators in Iran have arrested five members of an al Qaeda terrorist cell, the semi-official FARS news agency of Iran reported Tuesday.

The five "intended to carry out acts of sabotage in Iran," the news agency reported, citing the police chief in Iran's southern Kerman province, Hossein Chenarian. He said investigators seized weapons, ammunition and documents.

He referred to the suspects as foreign nationals from "Iran's western neighbors," the news agency said. It did not offer more precise information about the suspects' home country or countries.

The United States has accused Iran of complicity with al Qaeda.

In July, the United States said Iran gave sanctuary to an al Qaeda network that provides help to jihadists moving between the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"This network serves as the core pipeline through which al Qaeda moves money, facilitators and operatives from across the Middle East to South Asia," the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.

"By exposing Iran's secret deal with al Qaeda allowing it to funnel funds and operatives through its territory, we are illuminating yet another aspect of Iran's unmatched support for terrorism," a Treasury official who focuses on terrorism and financial intelligence, David S. Cohen, said in July.