Secretary Pompeo To Accuse Iran Of Having Ties To Al-Qaeda

(New York, N.Y.) – In a State Department address today, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to accuse Iran of having ties with Al-Qaeda, based on recently declassified U.S. intelligence. In his remarks, Secretary Pompeo is predicted to allege Iran has provided safe harbor and assistance to Al-Qaeda leadership.

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI)’s resource, Al-Qaeda And Iran: Alliance Against The US, provides an overview of the regime’s cooperation with Al-Qaeda against American interests. Iran (Shia) and Al-Qaeda (Sunni) seem like unlikely bedfellows given the Shia-Sunni divide that often exists in Islamic society. This divide, however, has not precluded cooperation in certain conditions, as the pair have an adversary in the United States. This Alliance Against America between the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism and the most infamous international terrorist group, is a formidable and menacing threat to American interests. 

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 even manifested itself on Iranian soil before, during, and after the September 11 attacks. Although such cooperation has been known by authorities, for the first time in July 2011, the U.S. formally accused Iran 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. 

To read UANI’s Resource, Al-Qaeda And Iran: Alliance Against The US, click here. 

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