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U.S.: Tehran Enabling al-Qaeda in Syria

(Wall Street Journal) Jay Solomon - The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday charged that Tehran has allowed senior al-Qaeda members operating from Iranian soil to facilitate the movement of Sunni fighters into Syria. The Treasury sanctioned a senior Uzbek member of al-Qaeda, Jafar al-Uzbeki, for using Iran to move fighters into Syria, part of an al-Qaeda network operating from Iran that "operates there with the knowledge of Iranian authorities." "The network also uses Iran as a transit point for moving funding and foreign fighters through Turkey to support al-Qaeda-affiliated elements inside Syria," including the Nusra Front, the Treasury said. U.S. officials have said that cooperation with Tehran on Syria is complicated by the fact that Iranian policy on Syria is in the hands of the IRGC, not with President Rouhani or the Foreign Ministry. Secretary of State John Kerry sought to discuss Syria with Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, last week on the sidelines of an international security conference in Munich, a senior U.S. official said, but Zarif said he didn't have the authority to discuss the Syrian conflict. U.S. officials have said they have picked up intelligence in recent months suggesting the Assad regime was buying oil from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), one of the most powerful Sunni militias in Syria's north, and holding back from bombing the group's offices in Rakka province. Some believe Damascus has been seeking to use the militia to further undermine other rebels.
2014-02-07 00:00:00
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