Iran: The New Home Of Al-Qaeda? – OpEd

The latest from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), according to Fox News, is that “al-Qaeda leaders are being harbored inside Iran.” This revelation comes as no surprise to Liberty Nation. The malevolent machinations of the Tehran regime have been front and center in LN reports for the last few months.

The link between Iran and al-Qaeda has been confirmed in the latest DIA “Statement for the Record: Worldwide Threat Assessment” prepared for the Armed Services Committee of the United States Senate. On page 49 of the report, the narrative reads, “Overall emir Ayman al-Zawahiri remains in hiding, while a handful of Iran-based leaders oversee al-Qaeda’s network.”

Two curious aspects of the DIA revelation are:

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the National Press Club back on January 12, 2021, that al-Qaeda was “operating under the hard shell of the regime’s protection.”
Despite knowing that Iran is giving aid and comfort to the leadership of the organization that killed 2,977 Americans, the Biden administration is eager to enter into nuclear talks again with Tehran emissaries.

The way Fox News’ Bret Baier put it,

“Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeting out that he said as much when he was in his old job that Iran is now the world headquarters for al-Qaeda. Meantime the Biden administration is still trying to make progress with negotiations between the U.S. and Iran on the nuclear deal, restarting that. Iran’s actions and this new detail about al-Qaeda could be a speed bump to that negotiation.”

The BBC News quoting from Pompeo’s remarks to the National Press Club, “Al-Qaeda has a new home base: it is the Islamic Republic of Iran. As a result, [Osama] Bin Laden’s wicked creation is poised to gain strength and capabilities.”

As the DIA report lays out in detail, al-Qaeda “in the Indian Subcontinent” working with ISIS-Khorasan, an offshoot from the main ISIS organization “continue to operate in Afghanistan” focusing attacks against the “Government of Afghanistan, religious minority sects, and the Afghan population.”

In Africa, the report explains,

“Terrorism also remains an active threat, as al-Qaeda and ISIS-aligned terrorist groups expand their influence and reach in some regions despite facing setbacks elsewhere in Africa…al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab poses the most severe terrorism in East Africa. The group has the capability to conduct high-profile attacks across the region, actively targets U.S. and regional forces, and exploits Somalia’s political turmoil and security gaps.”

Though the focus of al-Qaeda is exploiting the political and social instability in Africa, attacks against the U.S. and the West are still in al-Qaeda’s job jar. As the DIA assessment explains,

“However, online communications between al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the 2019 Pensacola attacker underscore the relative ease of al-Qaeda enabling attacks over the internet and its ability to capitalize on opportunities to target the U.S. homeland or other Western countries.”

The ability to plan, coordinate and direct al-Qaeda’s operations worldwide is so much easier when the al-Qaeda leadership has a warm, secure bed to come home to in Iran. Again, quoting from former Secretary Pompeo’s National Press Club remarks: “Since 2015, Iran has also given Al-Qaeda leaders greater freedom of movement inside of Iran under their supervision. As a result of this assistance, Al-Qaeda has centralized its leadership inside of Iran.”

So, the relationship between al-Qaeda and Iran was known during former President Obama’s administration when Biden was the vice president. Yet that administration went forward with the flawed nuclear agreement. No provision in the agreement addressed or even hinted at Iran giving up its sponsorship of global terrorism. Quite the contrary was true. The Obama-Biden doctrine rewarded Iran.

Liberty Nation explained:

“In a 2016 Breitbart article, ‘FACT-CHECK: Yes, The Nuclear Deal Hands’ $150 billion Over To Iran,’ we learned that the last Iran nuclear deal included the transfer of $150 billion to Iran – followed by another $1.7 billion. Furthermore, both President Obama and then-Secretary of State John Kerry confessed that the Iranian regime would likely use the money to fund terrorism.”

As it stands, we have the DIA revealing that Iran provides a secure haven to al-Qaeda, enabling the active terrorist organization to spread its evil worldwide. That information will probably not, as Fox News suggests, be a “speed bump” or even a tiny ripple on the waters of current U.S. negotiations plans. We have the Biden administration with the same mindset and many of the same people present in 2015 heading pell-mell toward another flawed agreement with Iran. Expecting the same result is solidly on the side of history.