Osama Bin Laden's children are hiding in Iran!

Another proof of the fact that (some, definitely not all) UK newspapers rank among the best in world.

The Times of London reported that the family of Osama Bin Laden are in hiding near Tehran. I recently read Steve Coll's brilliant account of the bin Laden family history. Two things I learned from this book is that the bin Laden family is an extremely complex one to Western eyes and that Osama has been an outcast for years. Thus, it would be completely unjustified to say that Osama's sons should be on a "wanted dead or alive" billboard; don't judge the child by the sins of their father!

Now turning to the political dimension: What should we make of the fact that the Sunni sons of bin Laden have found refuge in Shi'a Iran?

Richard Beeston is offering some hypotheses for why Tehran would have granted the bin Ladens a refuge (albeit under virtual house arrest). The most plausible of these seems that the bin Ladens could serve as a bargaining chip in contacts with almost every relevant actor in the region.

An important point in the Times report is that AQ has not yet committed acts of terrorism against Iranian interests, whereas AQ doctrine doesn't seem too fond of Shi'a theology. This is in stark contrast to Sunni regimes who have become victim to AQ terrorism, like Jordan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

I just wonder how will this play out inside Iran? Will the orthodox Shi'a clerics scold the regime for harbouring Sunni troublemakers?