Today, Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed classified information related to "the cooperation of Tehran and Al-Qaeda," and published pictures of Iran's leaders and commented, saying, "They threaten America and Israel every day."

Pompeo said - in a televised speech - that Iran has become the new Afghanistan and a safe haven for al-Qaeda, and he regretted that the United States cannot monitor the organization’s activity in Iran.

He considered that "the relationship between Iran and Al Qaeda threatens the normalization agreements between Israel and some Arab countries, and poses a threat to countries such as Saudi Arabia and Israel."

The US Secretary of State stressed that "Bin Laden's organization has grown stronger, and we have to face this danger, and we have to defeat it," adding that Iran has had strong ties with Al Qaeda for 3 decades.

He noted that many of the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks traveled to Iran, "although there is no evidence of Iran's participation in planning these attacks."

He revealed the contents of a message from Bin Laden in the possession of the US Navy, saying that Iran "is the artery of Al Qaeda, and that it should not be fought."

According to Pompeo, Al Qaeda members living in Iran had previously given instructions to blow up a train between Canada and New York, but Canadian wisdom thwarted the plot.

Regarding Abu Muhammad al-Masri, who was liquidated in Tehran last August, Pompeo said, "I confirm for the first time that he was living in Iran, and it was not surprising that he was there." He added, "Iran is a new headquarters for al-Qaeda."

The US Secretary of State announced the imposition of sanctions on two Al Qaeda members, and said that they operate from inside Iran, namely Sultan Yusef Arafa and Muhammad Abaki, known as Abd al-Rahman al-Maghribi.

And he announced a $ 70 million prize for anyone who provides information that leads to Morocco, saying, "We want to bring him to America to face justice."


Khamenei and Rouhani


Earlier, Pompeo released pictures of Iranian guide Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani, Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif, and the commander of the Quds Force in the Revolutionary Guard, Ismail Ghaani, and said that they threaten America and Israel almost every day.

In another tweet, Pompeo said that the flexibility of foreign policy necessitates the constant search for a moderate person in the Iranian regime who works to normalize relations between Tehran and Washington, but added that it is difficult to find a moderate person within the Iranian regime to do this job.

Reuters quoted two US sources as saying that Pompeo's speech today comes within the framework of the Trump administration’s last-minute move against Iran before handing over power to the president-elect.

In the same context, Israeli TV Channel 12 reported - from sources in the United States - that the head of the Israeli Mossad agency, Yossi Cohen, met with Pompeo before the latter made his statements about Iran.

But Iran's foreign minister said on Twitter that Pompeo's allegations about Iran's relationship with Al Qaeda were "fanciful", and accused him of "spreading lies."