May 26, 2003	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 23,1424

WASHINGTON, May 25: Washington has cut off contacts with Iran and is considering “public and private actions” to destabilize the Iranian government, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.

Top members of President George Bush’s administration will meet on Tuesday to discuss strategy towards the Islamic Republic amid allegations that it is harbouring members of the Al Qaeda terror network, the report said.

Pentagon officials are advocating trying to foment a popular uprising to topple Iran’s government, and the State Department may accept that approach if Iran does not take steps to crack down on Al Qaeda by Tuesday, the report said.

Iran broke off relations with the United States after its 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Bush last year famously labelled it part of an “axis of evil” along with Iraq and North Korea. US officials have also been worried about Iran’s nuclear programme.

But the two sides made “discreet contacts” before and during this year’s war on Iraq, most recently through a secret meeting in Geneva on May 3.

Washington cancelled a subsequent meeting after the May 12 bombings in Saudi Arabia, the Post said, after reviewing intelligence intercepts that reportedly show that Al Qaeda operatives hiding in Iran were involved in planning the attacks, which killed 34, including nine suicide bombers.—AFP