A recently surfaced photograph of three of Al Qaeda’s top leaders, including Saif al Adel – the man many believe to be the successor to emir Ayman al Zawahiri – shows that they were present in the Iranian capital of Tehran. Numerous U.S. government designations have previously outlined the presence of senior Al Qaeda leaders in Iran, but this photo offered rare visual proof.
The photo was originally published by @Sw0rdOfAnon (Anonymous) on Twitter. Two U.S. intelligence officials independently confirmed to FDD’s Long War Journal the authenticity of the photograph, as well as the identities of the three men. The intelligence officials said the photograph was taken in Tehran before 2015. …
In addition to keeping tabs on senior Al Qaeda figures inside Iran, the U.S. Treasury and State Departments have repeatedly exposed Iran’s “secret deal” with the Sunni jihadists. Under an agreement with the Iranian regime, Al Qaeda has maintained its “core facilitation pipeline” inside Iran. The Iranians have allowed this facilitation network to operate even though Iran and Al Qaeda are on opposite sides of the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
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