Al-Qaeda under Mullahs’ cloak, Iran officially sponsors terrorist organization

Mohamed Shaath

Despite the declared hostility shown between Iran and terrorist organizations such as Daesh and al-Qaeda, many facts confirm the close relationship between Tehran and these organizations.

Saeed Qassemi, a retired IRGC General, revealed earlier how Iran trained al-Qaeda terrorists while wearing the Iranian Red Crescent uniform. Also, reports have shown how Iran smuggled Indian fighters to Daesh in Afghanistan.

During the war, Iran deployed military personnel to Bosnia, including the IRGC general Mohammad Reza Naghdi and Hossein Allah-Karam, the commander of Ansar-e Hezbollah, an Iranian paramilitary organization.

IRGC Commander Hossein Allahkaram, who currently leads Ansar-e Hezbollah paramilitary organization

IRGC’s spokesman, Ramazan Sharif dismissing Qassemi’s rmarks said, “Mr. Saeed Qassemi’s remarks, who for a while was in Bosnia voluntarily and has retired a long time ago, are his personal views, devoid of credibility and are not shared by the IRGC”, according to ISNA.

Iranian affairs researcher Osama Al-Hitimi said in a statement to The Reference that despite that the IRGC commander’s remarks about the relation between Iran and al-Qaeda are not considered new, as they merely confirmed what Iran could not refute, however, they coincided with the decision to designate the IRGC a terrorist organization.

He also added that such remarks caused wide dissatisfaction among current leaders of the IRGC, who considered statements by former officials as just “points of view,” despite that evidence proved that the relation between Iran and al-Qaeda is old despite of the ideological disagreement between them.

Hitimi also clarified that this relation got even stronger after the conflict between the terrorist organization and the United States, as Iran and the IRGC are taking advantage of such conflicts to keep Iran in the lead by possessing all the cards regarding extremist groups.

He further affirmed that what Daesh spokesperson Abu Muhammad al-Adnani said in 2014 reveal how Iran succeeded in carrying out its policy as he said Daesh kept away from Iran “despite of their ability to turn into ponds of blood,” under the orders of al-Qaeda.

The researcher also said that many reports reveal that Iran provided safe haven to many of al-Qaeda’s wanted terrorists, including the sons of Osama Bin Laden, as claims point out that Hamza Bin Laden, the possible leader of al-Qaeda, resides in Iran.

“Of course, Iran’s relationship with al-Qaeda exposes its relation with Daesh that it claims to fight, even though everyone is well aware of how Iran has contributed in various ways to amplifying the organization to become a significant force. Therefore, finds justification for spreading Its arms in the region under the pretext of fighting terrorism, which gives it an opportunity for power and influence, which has already happened in Iraq and Syria,” Hitimi said.