|
Trending Topics
|
Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/11/al-qaeda-iran-cia/545576/
Al-Qaeda Has Rebuilt Itself - with Iran's Help
(Atlantic) Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark - While the Islamic State's experiment in statehood nears its end, al-Qaeda has flourished - its comeback assisted by a pact with Iran. Last week, the CIA declassified a new trove of documents from the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden in his compound in Pakistan. This document dump detailed how Hamza, Osama bin Laden's son, sheltered in Iran and even got married there; and how negotiations between al-Qaeda and the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran touched on funding and arming the Sunni terror outfit so it could strike at American targets. A contingent of al-Qaeda's clerical and military leaders remained in Iran until April 2012. Most of the outfit's military council remained in Iran until 2015. Only 400 strong when the Twin Towers fell, al-Qaeda now, with its leadership split between Iran, Pakistan, and Syria, has quietly rebuilt itself to the point of being able to call on tens of thousands of foot soldiers.