Tehran, a new haven for world terrorists

By Walid Mansour

Close to 6,000 documents, released by the Central Intelligence Agency, reveal that Iran has been hosting the first and second line leaders of al-Qaeda and their families since the US invasion of Afghanistan.

Iran and al-Qaeda are united in their desire to destroy Arab states. Iran has turned into a haven for al-Qaeda’s leadership, a refuge from threats posed to their existence by the US. For Iran, al-Qaeda serves one important objective on its agenda: spreading unrest in the Arab world.

One of the documents found on the personal computer of al-Qaeda’s late leader, Osama bin Laden, by the US troops that killed him in the northeastern Pakistani city of Abottabad in 2011 and then given to US President Donald Trump shows the presence of strong links between bin Laden and Iran.

The document reveals that Iran had helped al-Qaeda take root and grow in Afghanistan and provided the terrorist organization with money, arms and training. Tehran also became a safe haven for al-Qaeda’s operatives, the document shows.

The documents contain personal information about bin Laden and his family members, including his son, Hamza, who was asked by his father to settle down in Qatar.

Tehran hosted bin Laden’s family for over eight years. Some of bin Laden’s top officers also fled to Iran after the US occupation of Afghanistan. Iran, a safe refuge for al-Qaeda’s operatives at the time, facilitated their travel to it.

Relations between al-Qaeda and Iran date back to the mid-1990s. Ayman al-Zawahiri was the architect of these relations. He played a big role in opening communication channels between the Taliban, a militant Islamist movement that ruled large swaths of Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, and Iran. Nevertheless, Iran aided the US in its war against the Taliban in 2001.

Iran asked al-Qaeda, the documents reveal, to protect Shiite shrines in Iraq, in return for offering its correspondences and financial activities a safe passage and its leaders and their families a safe haven.

The two sides founded a liaison office and called it the “Decision of God”. The office was responsible for easing the travel of al-Qaeda’s leaders to and from Afghanistan, through coordination points in Pakistan; Iraq; southern Lebanon, and Syria.

Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the leader of Taliban, was killed by US troops as he tried to sneak into Iran where his family lived, according to US intelligence sources.

Many of al-Qaeda’s leaders also fled to Iran after the US occupation of Afghanistan. Iran gave them freedom of movement and allowed them to maintain their activities and financial dealings.

The war on Afghanistan, waged by a US-led coalition following the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington, strengthened relations between Iran and al-Qaeda even more.

Al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s second-in-command then, wanted to wage war against “infidel governments” and Iran was ready to offer him whatever support he needed. The Islamic Republic hosted more than 100 al-Qaeda leaders and their families, including bin Laden’s family.

Bin Laden used to view Iran with suspicion. He believed the Islamic Republic had contradictory loyalties. While it declared the US the “Great Satan”, it cooperated with it in targeting al-Qaeda’s leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Nevertheless, developments showed that Iran and al-Qaeda were united in their ultimate objectives. Al-Qaeda helped Iran on more than one occasion. It, for example, helped Iranian elements infiltrate Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen.

Iran wanted to use al-Qaeda in carrying out operations against countries it had strained relations with, including Saudi Arabia. It also wanted to turn al-Qaeda into a bargaining card in negotiations with the US over its nuclear file and US sanctions. Iran also wanted to curry favor with al-Qaeda to prevent it from staging attacks on its territory.

Iran mainly wanted to use al-Qaeda in spreading unrest in the Arab region. So far, Iran has been the principal force behind the destruction of four Arab capitals, namely Baghdad; Damascus; Manama, and Sana’a, through its militias.

Some of al-Qaeda’s leaders, one of the documents found on bin Laden’s personal computer shows, fled to Iran following the US 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. When they got there, al-Qaeda’s leaders were placed under tight supervision by Iranian authorities. The same document also shows that Iranian authorities had hosted al-Qaeda’s leader’s children at a residential complex for more than eight years.

In one of the letters, bin Laden asks his sons, Mohammad and Osman, not to leave Iran for tribal tape (What is this) because of drone attacks targeting al-Qaeda’s operatives there.

Bin Laden sent another letter to a high-ranking al-Qaeda officer in mid-June 2009 to let him know that his family was on its way from Iran to Pakistan. In a speech believed to be delivered by bin Laden in 2009, the al-Qaeda leader said: “Iran had allowed some brothers to leave for Syria”.

Some classified documents released in 2008 unveiled the names of the top al-Qaeda leaders who lived in Iran. These leaders included Mahfouz Ould al-Walid, bin Laden’s religious affairs’ advisor and an expert on Iran and Islamic law. Nicknamed Abu Hafs al-Mauritani, this man returned to his native Mauritania in 2012.

The leaders also included Abu al-Khair al-Masri, who served as al-Qaeda’s foreign relations chief, mainly responsible for contacts with Taliban. Al-Masri had strong ties with bin Laden and al-Zawahiri.

The other leader was Saif al-Adl, a member of al-Qaeda’s board of directors, a propaganda expert and one of the group’s operations’ planners. He also served as the head of the organization’s military operations. This man was known for his close cooperation with Abu Muhammad al-Masri.

The fourth leader was Abu Muhammad al-Masri, another member of al-Qaeda’s board of directors. This man was one of al-Qaeda’s most outstanding members. He was the former head of training in the organization. He is believed to be still living in Iran.

Abu Lait al-Libi was the most important al-Qaeda leader living in Iran, following the US invasion of Afghanistan. Known as Ammar Ashour al-Rifai, this man was killed in a US drone attack. He was active in eastern Afghanistan and the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Abdul Aziz al-Masri, nicknamed Sayyid Muhammad Mustafa al-Bakri, was one of the most active members of al-Qaeda. He was the chief of explosives with vast experiences in nuclear research. Al-Bakri worked closely with Abu Dujana al-Masri, a bombing trainer before his arrest. Al-Masri was a member of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad movement. He was also al-Zawahiri’s son-in-law.

Mohammed Ahmed Shawki al-Islambouli, a brother of Khaled al-Islambouli, who assassinated Egyptian president Anwar Sadat at a military parade in October 1981, was one of al-Qaeda’s top leaders who lived in Iran. Al-Islambouli was responsible for facilitating the missions and operations of al-Qaeda. He was a prominent member of Egypt’s Islamist groups. He also used to have contacts with Iran’s intelligence service.

The leaders also included Tharwat Shehata, a former al-Zawahiri deputy and an operations planning expert. Shehata used to have a strong relation with al-Qaeda’s top leadership and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi before leaving for Iran.

Ali Mujahid, who was responsible for explosives’ supplies and the training of recruits in computer and cyber activities, was also one of these leaders. Mujahid facilitated the movement of high-ranking militants from Iran to Iraq. He was suspected of involvement in an attack on the subway in New York in late 2005.

Abu Anas al-Libi, who was accused of involvement in the 1998 bombings in East Africa, was one additional al-Qaeda leader living in Iran. Al-Libi was a senior al-Qaeda member. He was a member of Libya’s Islamic Brigades. He was arrested and detained in the US.

The leaders included Abu Dahak, known as Ali Saleh Hussein Tabuki. He was a representative of the Chechen Mujahedeen in Afghanistan. They also included Khalid al-Sudani who was a member of al-Qaeda’s consultative council. Qasim al-Sori, was another leader who worked to ease communication between al-Qaeda’s leaders in Waziristan, Pakistan, and Iraq. He planned and coordinated terrorist operations in Europe with several al-Qaeda cells and al-Qaeda’s first and second line leaderships.