TEHRAN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Iran's interior minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar on Monday reiterated charges against U.S. over the "terrorist" ringleader Abdolmalek Rigi, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Rigi's confessions to his terrorist operations inside Iran indicated the strong U.S. support for terrorism, IRNA quoted the minister as saying.
Referring to the U.S. hostile policies against Iran in the region, Mohammad-Najjar said "The Islamic Republic of Iran is standing ready to face any problems."
In a footage shown by Press TV on Thursday, Rigi said that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had offered unlimited support to his Jundallah, an Iranian Sunni rebel group based in Pakistan.
In a Dubai meeting, CIA agents promised to provide Jundallah with a military base anywhere near the Iranian border equipped with weaponry and training facilities, Press TV quoted him as saying.
Iranian authorities announced on Tuesday that they have arrested Rigi on a flight from Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, to Kyrgyzstan, and accused the United States of backing him. Washington dismissed Iran's accusations.
The Pakistani-based Jundallah group was founded by and had been under the command of Rigi who claims is fighting for the rights of Sunni Muslims in Iran. It has been identified as a terrorist organization by Iran and Pakistan and has been behind numerous acts of terror, bombing and kidnapping.
