Iran is holding "a few" al Qaeda members whom it will not extradite to the United States, a member of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said in Vienna on Wednesday.
"There are a few members of al Qaeda who had been plotting against the national security of Iran because of terror activities inside of Iran.
That is why they are under questioning," Seyed Hossein Mussavian told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the Austrian capital.
"The process is going on: first of all, the questioning should be finalised and then they should be put on trial," he said.
"They are not ordinary members but middle-class members of al Qaeda. They are kept in prison," he said, adding: "If and when Iran decides to deliver these people, it will be to their own countries and not to the USA."