Al Qaeda Deputy Leader Killed In Tehran

Underscores Decades-long Ties Between Al Qaeda & Regime Leadership

(New York, N.Y.) – This week, intelligence officials reportedly confirmed to the New York Times that Al Qaeda’s deputy leader, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, was assassinated in Tehran in August. According to four officials, Israeli agents carried out the operation on what was the anniversary of the U.S. embassy bombings in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed 224 people. Abdullah’s adult daughter, Miriam, was also reportedly killed in the operation. She had been married to Hamza bin Laden. As of this week, however, no country has publicly confirmed Abdullah’s death. The Iranian regime maintains that the victims were a Lebanese history professor and his daughter.

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI)’s resource, Al Qaeda And Iran: Alliance Against The U.S., provides an overview of the ties between Al Qaeda and the regime, especially as it relates to their shared hatred of America. Iran has collaborated with Al Qaeda covertly and often by proxy due to the latter's notorious reputation. This covert cooperation began in the early 1990s in Sudan, continued after Al Qaeda relocated to Afghanistan, and manifested itself on Iranian soil before, during, and after the September 11 attacks. Such cooperation has been known by authorities—the U.S. formally accused Iran in July 2011 of forging an alliance with Al Qaeda that includes harboring Al Qaeda operatives on Iranian territory and helping Al Qaeda transit money, weapons, and fighters.

In 2012, the U.S. government further exposed ties between Al Qaeda and Iran. On February 16, 2012, the Treasury Department designated the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) for its support of Al Qaeda, as well as other terrorist organizations. In its 2015 “Country Reports on Terrorism,” the U.S. State Department reported that “Iran remained unwilling to bring to justice senior al-Qa’ida (AQ) members it continued to detain and refused to publicly identify the members in its custody. Iran previously allowed AQ facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iran since at least 2009, enabling AQ to move funds and fighters to South Asia and Syria.” To this day, Iran continues to support the most infamous international terrorist group.

To explore UANI’s resource, Al Qaeda And Iran: Alliance Against The US, please click here.

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