Veteran US diplomat, Zalmay Khalilzad, has accused Iran of making a deal with al-Qaida to provide sanctuary for its de facto leader, Saif al-Adel, in return for targeting its opponents at home and abroad.
The former US ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and the UN said in a tweet on Monday that “Iran-based, Saif al-Adel, has become al-Qaida’s leader. It is very likely that a deal has been struck between Saif and the Quds force: in exchange for Iranian sanctuary and support, al-Qaida will do the regime’s dirty work by targeting its opponents.
“The growing Iranian threat warrants the US and its allies to further isolate and weaken the Iranian regime’s international legitimacy,” Khalilzad added.
According to a recent report by the UN Security Council, Iran based Egyptian, Saif a-Adel, has taken the role of leading al-Qaida after the death of Ayman al-Zawahiri by a drone strike in Kabul on 31 July 2022.
Khalilzad’s remarks came after Iran International TV was forced to move some of its operation out of London to the US amid security threats emanating from Iran against its employees.
