Examining Iran's Alleged Ties to Al Qaeda

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In his speech at the National Press Club on Jan. 12, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asserted that Iran is the new base for the Islamic terrorist group Al Qaeda. His statement was met with criticism from experts, who were perplexed by the lack of factual basis for any of Pompeo’s allegations. Responding to Pompeo’s speech, an unnamed former US intelligence official warned that Americans should be wary of attempts to depict Iran and Al Qaeda as partners in terrorism. Colin Clarke, a terrorism expert at the Soufan Center, called Pompeo’s statements “disingenuous” and “misleading”, going on to say that Afghanistan and Pakistan remain the most prominent hubs of Al Qaeda activity.

Pompeo went on to allege that whereas Al Qaeda militants were forced to operate clandestinely in the mountains of Afghanistan, they are now offered full protection to exist openly in Iran by the Iranian government. Past actions by Iran’s regime, however, contradict Pompeo’s claims — Al Qaeda operatives that fled to Iran following the US’s invasion of Afghanistan were captured and extradited, not given refuge. Though he contended that their relationship has evolved into an amicable one more recently, Pompeo failed to make light of any facts that would show Al Qaeda and Iran to have changed course and begun collaborating. Yet another glaring reason to doubt any cooperation between the two is that Sunni-run Al Qaeda and Shia Iran are of rival religious sects. If anything, the two groups have historically been categorized as enemies on the basis of their clashing beliefs.

There is much more convincing evidence of the Iranian regime’s ties to Hamas and Hezbollah — Iran has provided support in the form of funding and arms to both terrorist groups. For that reason, Iran has long been considered a state sponsor of terrorism by the US. While that angle on the regime’s connection to terrorism certainly merits discussion, there is no basis for the idea that they currently sponsor Al Qaeda, much less to suggest that Iran is currently the group’s base.

Ultimately, Pompeo’s baseless, bizarre claims about Iran appear to be nothing more than last-minute propaganda against the state, which essentially suffered a four-year barrage of policy attacks while the Trump administration had power. Unfortunately, Americans have been subjected to multitudes of anti-Iranian rhetoric, much of it with very little basis in truth, from government agencies as part of the administration’s plan to justify its policies. The misinformation and propaganda turn the tide of public opinion towards support for harsher penalties on Iran, including sanctions and the maximum pressure campaign. 

Former Sec. of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif shake hands during initial negotiations over the Iran nuclear deal. (U.S. State Department)

Along the same line of intentional misinformation, Pompeo’s speech appeared to be a strategic fabrication of facts intended to further derail any future hopes of reentering into the Iran nuclear deal. Since withdrawing from the deal in 2018, Trump and his administration officials have embarked on essentially a campaign of sabotage, issuing disparaging remarks about the state, its leadership and its involvement in global terrorist activity. In doing so, they have intentionally worsened the already tense relationship between the US and Iran in hopes that the JCPOA becomes impossible to revive. Joe Biden has made it clear that he intends to reenter the deal, however, and Iran has recently indicated that they are looking to work with the President to make that happen. For now, it appears that Pompeo’s accusations were not the dealbreaker he intended them to be, but time will tell whether or not Biden is able to work with Iran’s leadership to effectively repair their very tense relationship.