The words of the head of the US State Department, Mike Pompeo, that Iran has become a haven for the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda are unsubstantiated.

This was stated by Zamir Kabulov, Director of the Second Asian Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“It seems that Mr. Pompeo, towards the end, wants to do something else to hurt Iran.

But this is absolutely unsubstantiated and unreasonable, "RIA Novosti quoted Kabulov as saying.

The diplomat also added that Moscow has "absolutely no information" about Tehran's possible ties with this group.

The day before, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, during which he said that Iran is connected with Al-Qaeda, and the country's territory has actually become a new base for the terrorists of this organization.

“Al-Qaeda has a new home - the Islamic Republic of Iran.

As a result, the evil brainchild of Osama bin Laden was given the opportunity to gain strength and military potential.

By ignoring this relationship between Iran and Al-Qaeda, we are putting ourselves in danger.

We must admit it.

We must confront her.

And we must overcome it, ”said the head of the US Foreign Office.

He also said that the militants of the organization had allegedly moved to Iran from Afghanistan.

“I would say that Iran is indeed the new Afghanistan - as a key geographic hub for Al Qaeda, but in reality the current situation is even worse.

Unlike Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda was hiding in the mountains, today it operates under the reliable protection of the Iranian regime, ”says Pompeo.

He also stated that the deputies of the current head of Al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are allegedly in Iran at the moment.

According to him, the Iranian special services and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) allegedly provide technical support to the terrorists.

At the same time, Pompeo during his speech did not provide any concrete evidence that Tehran was interacting with this terrorist group.

Responsiveness

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif criticized Pompeo's words.

“Mr.“ we lie, deceive, steal ”, who put Cuba on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism,“ declassified ”false documents about Iran and made various statements about al-Qaeda, pitifully ends his ill-fated career with an even more belligerent lies.

Nobody will lead.

All the 9/11 terrorists were from Secretary of State Pompeo's favorite destinations in the Middle East, and none were from Iran, ”the head of Iranian diplomacy wrote on his Twitter.

From designating Cuba to fictitious Iran "declassifications" and AQ claims, Mr. “we lie, cheat, steal" is pathetically ending his disastrous career with more warmongering lies.



No one is fooled.

All 9/11 terrorists came from @ SecPompeo's favorite ME destinations;

NONE from Iran.

- Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 12, 2021

In turn, many English-language media, such as the Guardian newspaper, Al Jazeera TV channel, Reuters agency and others, in the headlines of their materials also designated Pompeo's accusations as unsubstantiated.

Western analysts, in turn, called his words unconvincing, given the religious differences between al-Qaeda followers and Iran.

The experts interviewed by RT agree with this assessment.

“This accusation is completely absurd, since Al-Qaeda is a Sunni extremist group for which Shiites are heretics, therefore, they must be wiped off the face of the earth.

In turn, Iran, which is populated mainly by Shiites, is a consistent adversary of the Sunni countries of the Arabian Peninsula - hence the decisive steps that Tehran took in the fight against Al-Qaeda, IS ** and other similar terrorist groups, ” - explained Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Political-Military Studies at the Institute for the United States and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

  • Mike Pompeo

  • Reuters

  • © Andrew Harnik

The expert added that the words of the head of the US State Department should not be perceived otherwise than as an attempt to complicate the work of the next administration.

“This accusation is evidence of the bottom that American diplomacy fell to during the Trump administration.

Everything that Mike Pompeo is saying now should not be taken seriously, since he has been holding his post for the last days and is now trying to make the life of his successors as difficult as possible, ”Vladimir Batyuk stressed.

Nuclear deal

In his speech, Mike Pompeo also said that Iran allegedly allowed al-Qaeda to create a new operational headquarters on its territory in 2015, when the Obama administration, with the participation of Germany, France, Great Britain, Russia and China, concluded a so-called nuclear deal with Tehran. , formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

According to experts, in this way the outgoing secretary of state is trying to prevent the new president and cabinet from establishing a dialogue with Tehran.

“Most likely, Mike Pompeo wanted in this way to prevent the stabilization of relations between the United States and Iran and the restoration of the nuclear deal, in which Biden promised to return the United States,” Vladimir Batyuk said in an interview with RT.

Recall, according to the terms of the JCPOA, Tehran refuses to develop nuclear weapons in exchange for lifting economic sanctions from the country.

Trump has repeatedly called the deal the worst deal in history and said it would lead to Iran's nuclear weapons.

In May 2018, the head of the White House announced the unilateral US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, since, according to Washington, Tehran allegedly violated its terms.

At the same time, the rest of the parties to the agreement and the IAEA have repeatedly stressed that Iran fulfills all the terms of the deal and does not develop nuclear weapons.

Soon after the US withdrew from the agreement, the Trump administration resumed sanctions against Iran and introduced new ones.

In turn, Democrat Joe Biden, even during the election campaign in September 2020, announced that he would resume US participation in the JCPOA.

“I will offer Tehran a sure way to return to a diplomatic settlement.

If Iran resumes strict adherence to the nuclear deal, the United States will rejoin the agreement as a starting point for subsequent negotiations.

Together with our allies, we will work to strengthen and expand the provisions of the nuclear deal, while addressing other issues of concern, ”Biden wrote in an article for CNN.

  • Joe Biden

  • Reuters

  • © Kevin Lamarque

Biden's intention to become part of the nuclear deal with Iran again was confirmed by his national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

"President-elect Biden said that if Iran returns to comply with the terms of the nuclear deal, that is, reduces its stockpiles, destroys some of its centrifuges and takes other measures to limit its nuclear program, then the United States will resume its participation in the agreement," he said in an interview. CNN.

As HSE professor Dmitry Yevstafiev noted in an interview with RT, making such harsh statements about Tehran, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is trying with all his might to implement the Republican Party's foreign policy platform on pressure on Iran.

“Mike Pompeo can now say whatever he wants, but this will not interest anyone, since he does not represent anything de facto in the political life of the United States, and in 8 days he will not represent anything de jure.

He behaves like a running car on a playground: the children have already dispersed, and his factory continues to work.

However, this statement should be taken seriously, because until the Biden administration finally takes power, a force option with respect to Iran is possible, ”the political scientist explained.

Although Biden intends to return the United States to a nuclear deal with Iran, he will not be able to do it just like that, since the confrontation with Tehran has gone too far, Dmitry Evstafiev said.

“This will be the subject of a fairly serious trade with the Iranian side, because now the Iranian liberals are not as strong as when this deal was concluded, and they have no hopes for any deep partnership between Iran and the United States.

Moreover, today the American side does not give the impression of a force that is capable of pursuing a stable foreign policy, ”the expert concluded. 

* "Al-Qaeda" - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 02.14.2003.

** "Islamic State" (IS, ISIS) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.