Is Iran The Enemy?

By Tim McGirk/Tehran

Mahmood the smuggler nods up the desert highway toward Iran's mountainous border with Pakistan and Afghanistan. He suspects that many of his Arab passengers are members of al-Qaeda fleeing the authorities. "I don't care who you are. Even if you're a criminal, I'll take you, as long as you've got the money," he says, revving up his Toyota.

Hunted in Afghanistan and Pakistan, al-Qaeda terrorists are slipping into Iran in droves, often with the aid of smugglers like Mahmood. Washington believes that several al-Qaeda leaders, including security chief Saif al-Adil, are hiding in that country. Iran counters that it's impossible to seal off its rugged, 1,000-mile eastern border. "We're trying our best," Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi told TIME. "We have strong objections to al-Qaeda, politically and religiously."

Washington's fury over Iran's supposed al-Qaeda connection, as well as its alleged nuclear ambitions, has many Iranians wondering, After Iraq, are we next? At a Tehran restaurant, a waiter made sure nobody was listening and then asked, with both fear and hope, "Are the Americans going to help rid us of the mullahs?" Advisers to Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei say he is genuinely worried about a possible U.S. attack. As a result, they say, he has ordered his fellow ayatullahs to refrain from using their influence with Iraqi Shi'ites to whip up unrest against U.S. troops. Iran's Foreign Minister last week denied charges that his country is trying to meddle in Iraq, saying U.S. officials are "looking for escape routes to justify their failure so far" to bring order to the country after the war.

The Bush Administration is also reportedly considering an effort to destabilize Khamenei's clerical regime. Still, there is no proof that Iran is abetting al-Qaeda, only that its terrorists are hiding there. The Iranians add that the U.S. has not given them much direction. "If the Americans would tell us where these terrorists are," says Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi, "we'd happily arrest them." --By Tim McGirk/Tehran