Iran & AQ: a safe haven or holding cell?

[davidbfpo]

A long piece by Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy authors of 'The Exile: The Flight Of Osama Bin Laden' who cite one of the Abbottabad papers as reinforcing their book:

Against all odds, and despite the most costly counter-terrorism campaign ever waged by the West, al-Qaeda has flourished—its comeback assisted by a remarkable pact with Iran.

Link:http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2017...s-help/142484/

[davidbfpo]

An update:

A prominent Iranian politician discussed Iranian facilitation on the passage of al-Qaeda members who later carried out the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, potentially confirming allegations in the 9/11 Commission report. Mohammad-Javad Larijani, a former diplomat, member of a politically influential Iranian family, and current international affairs assistant in the Iranian judiciary, made the comments in an interview with Iranian state TV on May 30, according to an Al Arabiya report. The interview translation was independently confirmed by The Daily Caller News Foundation.

Link:http://dailycaller.com/2018/06/08/ir...rs-politician/

What did he actually say?

The al-Qaeda members asked the Iranian authorities not to stamp their passports because the Saudi government would prosecute them if it knew they traveled to Iran, he said.“Our government agreed not to stamp the passports of some of them because they were on transit flights for two hours, and they were resuming their flights without having their passports stamped,” Larijani said. “However their movements were under the complete supervision of the Iranian intelligence.”
One of the pilots who passed through Iranian airspace before September 11 was responsible for carrying out the attacks, and a Hezbollah military leader sat next to him, Larijani added.

Link:https://townhall.com/tipsheet/timoth...ckers-n2489052

[davidbfpo]

From "Foggy Bottom" via the Long War Journal, which starts with:

The State Department released its annual Country Reports on Terrorism today. The report covers events during the previous calendar year. As in past assessments, State says that Iran “has allowed” al Qaeda to operate its key facilitation network on Iranian soil.

It has a summary of previous findings too.
Link:https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2018/09/state-department-iran-allows-al-qaeda-to-operate-its-core-facilitation-pipeline.php

[davidbfpo]

A report from New America by Nelly Lahoud, a SME, which is based on the Abbottabad documents:

This study canvasses nearly 300 declassified documents recovered in May 2011 by U.S. Special Forces during the raid on the compound of Al-Qa‘ida leader Usama bin Ladin (UBL) in Abbottabad, Pakistan. By focusing on Al-Qa‘ida’s voice — in the form of its own communications — this report avoids much of the challenge of politicization that occurs when discussion of Iran’s relationship to Al-Qa‘ida is based on commentary by Iran’s rivals.

There are two links, the first comes complete (41 pgs):https://s3.amazonaws.com/newamericad...-20_151707.pdf

The second is part by part:https://www.newamerica.org/international-security/reports/al-qaidas-contested-relationship-iran/introduction