The State Department revealed today that ‘Abd al Rahman al Maghrebi, a senior al Qaeda leader who heads the group’s propaganda arm and has served as its “general manager,” is based in Iran. Maghrebi and four others based in Iran were designated as terrorists.
FDD senior fellow Behnam Ben Taleblu joins the podcast to discuss recent assassinations inside Iran and the state of the Iranian regime’s various proxy wars.
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss the killing of al Qaeda’s deputy emir in Tehran. The operation was reportedly conducted by Israeli assassins at the behest of the U.S.
The State Department announced today that it intends to designate the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization. The IRGC’s activities span the globe.
The State Department has released its Country Reports on Terrorism 2017. As in past reports, State says that “Iran has allowed AQ [al Qaeda] facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iran since at least 2009, enabling AQ to move funds and fighters to South Asia and Syria.”
On Aug. 8, the State Department announced that it had increased its reward for information concerning the whereabouts of two veteran al Qaeda leaders: Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah and Saif al-Adel. Although State didn’t explain the move, there is evidence that the two al Qaeda managers were operating inside Iran as of 2017.
The State Department has amended the terrorist designation for Al Nusrah Front to include the “alias” Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS). State’s announcement indicates that the US government still considers HTS to be part of al Qaeda’s network, despite the jihadists’ vitriolic disputes over its formation. State didn’t explain its reasoning behind the move.
“Since at least 2009,” the State Department says in a recently released report, “Iran has allowed AQ [al Qaeda] facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline through the country, enabling AQ to move funds and fighters to South Asia and Syria.”
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for its first major attacks inside Iran earlier today. Although the group has long fought Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria, it had never struck Tehran. Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al Adnani previously admitted that his organization had abided by an order from al Qaeda’s senior leadership to refrain from attacking in Iran.
The US Treasury Department designated Muhammad Hadi al-‘Anizi as an al Qaeda terrorist earlier this month. He was detained in Afghanistan in late 2001 at the age of 15. Al-‘Anizi was freed and thanked Kuwait’s leadership for his repatriation. He is now based in Kuwait.
The US Treasury Department announced today that Muhammad Hadi al-`Anizi, a Kuwait-based “facilitator and financier” for al Qaeda and its Syrian branch, has been designated as a terrorist. Al Qaeda’s senior leadership appointed Al-`Anizi as al Qaeda’s “representative in Syria” sometime in 2014. His brother was previously designated by Treasury, which has repeatedly targeted al Qaeda’s support network in Kuwait.
The US killed al Qaeda veteran Abu al Khayr al Masri in a drone strike in Idlib, Syria in late February. Masri was identified as al Qaeda’s “general deputy” in July 2016. He worked to unite Syrian rebel groups under a common banner.
The US Treasury Department designated three al Qaeda terrorists today. All three of them are based inside Iran. One of them has served as al Qaeda’s “Military Commission Chief” and was identified in Osama bin Laden’s files as part of a “new generation” of leaders.
Abu Ubaydah Al Lubnani was once one of al Qaeda’s top security officials. After being dismissed from his job, he joined the Islamic State. In an interview with Al Naba magazine earlier this year, Lubnani discussed al Qaeda’s relationship with Iran and the group’s early strategy for the war in Syria. An al Qaeda loyalist has responded to Lubnani’s testimony.
The Department of Defense confirmed that the senior al Qaeda strategist, who was dispatched years ago by al Qaeda from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region to Syria, was killed in an airstrike on Oct. 15. Nasr’s death is a blow to al Qaeda.
Online jihadists are claiming that an al Qaeda leader known as Sanafi al Nasr has been killed in an airstrike in Syria. Nasr’s death is not confirmed and he has been reported dead before. The latest claims come from al Qaeda members who apparently knew Nasr and interacted with him online.
The threat posed by al Qaeda remains today. The “Khorasan group” is merely al Qaeda in Syria.
The Long War Journal first exposed one of the two, a jihadist known as Sanafi al Nasr, as a senior al Qaeda operative in March. Al Nasr is a senior al Qaeda leader who relocated from Pakistan to Syria last year. Treasury reveals that he previously served as the head of al Qaeda’s Iran-based network.
The Treasury Department confirmed today that the head of al Qaeda’s Iran-based network, known as Yasin al Suri, is operational once again. Treasury also designated an additional “associate” of al Suri’s.
Al Jazeera reports that Yasin al Suri, the head of al Qaeda’s Iran-based network, is facilitating the terror network’s operations from Iranian soil once again. Al Suri was detained by the Iranian government after the US government exposed his network, and the deal between Iran and al Qaeda, in 2011.
The State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2012 summarizes Iran’s extensive support for terrorists, including al Qaeda and Taliban members. The State Department also recognized Iran’s support for Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The US Treasury Department has designated Adel Radi Saqr al Wahabi al Harbi, a “key member” of al Qaeda’s Iran-based network. Al Harbi serves as the deputy to Muhsin al Fadhli, who now leads al Qaeda’s presence in Iran. The US government has highlighted the Iran-al Qaeda relationship several times since July 2011.
The US Treasury Department designated the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security for its human rights abuses and sponsorship of terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda and its affiliate, al Qaeda in Iraq.
A new leader of al Qaeda’s network in Iran has been reportedly named. Muhsin al Fadhli is a longtime al Qaeda operative who was involved in al Qaeda in Iraq’s operations as well as al Qaeda’s 2002 attack on a French naval vessel.
The US government is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the capture of Yasin al Suri, a senior al Qaeda facilitator based in Iran. Al Suri was designated by the Treasury Department in July.
The US Treasury Department designated six al Qaeda members who work for a terror network based in Iran. One of the six leaders designated today was identified as al Qaeda’s “operations chief” earlier this month; he was also reported to be involved in plotting an attack set to coincide with the tenth anniversary of 9/11.