Washington:
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged Tuesday that arch-enemy Iran has turn out to be a new “home base” for Al-Qaeda worse than Afghanistan, an assertion questioned by specialists.
In a speech a week prior to leaving workplace, Pompeo confirmed a New York Times report that Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command was killed final year in Tehran, though he did not say that Israel carried it out.
“Al-Qaeda has a new home base. It is the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Pompeo mentioned in a speech at the National Press Club.
“I would say Iran is indeed the new Afghanistan — as the key geographic hub for Al-Qaeda — but it’s actually worse. Unlike in Afghanistan, when Al-Qaeda was hiding in the mountains, Al-Qaeda today is operating under the hard shell of the Iranian regime’s protection.”
He urged more international stress, calling the alleged alliance a “massive force for evil all over the world.”
President Donald Trump’s hawkish major diplomat stopped quick of urging military action, saying: “If we did have that option, if we chose to do that, there’s a much greater risk in executing it.”
But he announced sanctions on a number of people and a $7 million reward for details on an Al-Qaeda member he mentioned was believed to be in Iran identified each as Muhammad Abbatay or Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrebi.
Iran, a Shiite clerical state, is ideologically opposed each to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, intense Sunni movements that are predominantly Arab, and has fought on fronts abroad against each.
Many specialists think that Tehran has permitted Al-Qaeda operatives to use its territory — comparatively secure from the US military — to provide guarantees that the extremists will not target Iran.
Pompeo acknowledged that late Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden himself “considered Al-Qaeda members inside the Islamic Republic of Iran to be hostages” and that there was no proof Iran backed the September 11, 2001 attacks, mainly carried out by Saudi nationals.
But Pompeo, a former CIA chief, mentioned that Iran in current years has permitted Al-Qaeda higher freedom of movement which includes issuing travel documents, and that the group has “centralized leadership” in Tehran.
“Tehran has allowed Al-Qaeda to fund-raise, to freely communicate with other Al-Qaeda members around the world and perform many other functions that were previously directed from Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Pompeo mentioned.
Pompeo has championed a tough line on Iran which includes sweeping sanctions that have ravaged its economy.
President-elect Joe Biden is anticipated to seek a return to diplomacy and has tapped Bill Burns, a extensively respected former diplomat who has led secret negotiations with Iran, as CIA chief.
()