THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: When Canada accused "al-Qaeda elements in Iran" of guiding the alleged plot to derail a train, the veil was briefly lifted on a tangled yet crucial relationship between Osama bin Laden's followers and Tehran.
Iran and al-Qaeda, divided by race and religion, are not exactly natural allies. Bin Laden’s heirs are radical Sunni Arabs with a visceral suspicion of Iran’s Shia Persian regime. Indeed the hardline Salafists of al-Qaeda consider the Shia faith a heresy: in their eyes, Shias are not true Muslims at all.
Yet Iran and al-Qaeda are united by anti-Americanism and the compelling logic of “my enemy’s enemy is my friend”. With this in mind, there is no doubt that Iran granted refuge to senior al-Qaeda figures after the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
The fugitives included bin Laden’s daughter, Fatima, and no less than four of his sons: Othman, Mohammed, Laden and Sa’ad. Along with various other key figures, they were kept under house arrest, but given safety.
”The reality is that since 2001, Iran has provided refuge for al-Qaeda elements, including some senior leaders,” said Jonathan Eyal, head of security studies at the Royal United Services Institute. “The Canadian claim that this plot has been engineered on Iranian soil is entirely plausible. Western intelligence agencies have known for a long time about the presence of al-Qaeda operatives in Iran.” » | David Blair | Tuesday, April 23, 2013
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