Iran is believed to host the new “undisputed” leader of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, according to a UN report this week.
Saif al-Adel, a former Egyptian special forces officer and leading member of the insurgent group with a US$10 million bounty on his head, is believed to be al-Qaeda’s new unofficial leader.
The group has not officially named a successor following the 2022 assassination of then-leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
FILE PHOTO: Saif al-Adel is seen in this undated image. FBI/Handout via Reuters/File Photo (Photo by Reuters)
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The death dealt a significant blow to al-Qaeda, which had not lost a leader since Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces in May 2011.
The United States on Wednesday backed the UN claims, with State Department press secretary Ned Price telling reporters that Tehran’s safe haven offer to a designated terrorist is “just another example of Iran’s broad support to terrorism” and “are destabilizing activities in the Middle East and beyond.
Al-Adel is also wanted in coordination with the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
Iran’s UN Mission responded to the allegations in a tweet, saying al-Qaeda was dismantled after bin Laden’s death more than a decade ago, saying the group “doesn’t exist anymore, but its extremist ideology still persists.” . “
Usama bin Laden and al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahri sitting next to each other (Hamid Mir/Editor/Ausaf Newspaper for Daily Dawn/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo)
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“It is worth noting that the address of the newly appointed alleged al-Qaeda leader is incorrect,” the Iranian comment added. “This misinformation could potentially hamper efforts to combat terrorism.”
The degree of separation once believed when it came to Iran, which adheres predominantly to Shiite Islam, and Sunni-based terror groups like al-Qaeda or the Taliban is an old “trope,” an expert told Fox News. Digital.
“This has been a longstanding trope within the diplomatic and intelligence field that Iran versus the Sunnis and the Shiites cannot cooperate,” said Bill Roggio, senior fellow and editor of the Long War Journal at the Defense Defense Foundation. Democracy (FDD). Fox News Digital. “Numerous al-Qaeda leaders and operatives are taking refuge inside Iran.”
Roggio said al-Adel’s ties to the Iranian regime and his location within Iran could make him a “much more dangerous” al-Qaeda leader than his predecessor, but noted that al-Adel’s leadership style was relatively a stranger.
American Enterprise Institute (AEI) senior fellow Michael Rubin, who also spent time embedded with the Taliban before 9/11, echoed Roggio’s sentiments, saying the news that al-Adel is being hosted in Iran “Pears the veil off Iran’s extensive relationship with al Qaeda.”
“The idea that Iran and al-Qaeda cannot overcome the sectarian divide is naive,” he told Fox News Digital. “From an Iranian perspective, Iran is an Islamic power, not just a Shia,” she added.
Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front fighters carry their weapons in the back of a van during the liberation of Lebanese soldiers and police in Arsal, eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, on December 1, 2015. (Reuters)
The UN also said it suspects al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Abu Ikhlas al-Masri, resides in Afghanistan, which is currently controlled by the Taliban.
The al-Qaeda commander was reportedly captured in 2010 but released from Bagram prison following the Taliban takeover in 2021, the Long War Journal reported this week.
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Price reminded reporters Wednesday that the Taliban pledged not to allow Afghanistan to be used as a safe haven for terrorist groups or those who would conspire against the United States or its allies.
“We are ready, willing and able to act ourselves if the Taliban are unable or unwilling to honor the commitments they have made,” he said. “I think he saw it perhaps most vividly late last year when the US eliminated then al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was being given a safe haven in Kabul.”
At the time, the Taliban claimed that they did not know that al-Zawarhiri had been in Afghanistan.
Reuters contributed to this report.
