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.
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.
ISIS orchestrated an assault on the main prison in Jalalabad earlier this month. Afghan officials immediately accused the Taliban of planning the attack.
Hosts Bill Roggio and Tom Joscelyn discuss what al Qaeda looks like in 2020.
Al Qaeda Telegram channels have shared a statement attributed to Saif al-Adel. He writes that the jihadis modify their military program to take into account Turkey’s influence.
The jihad in Syria has unleashed another leadership crisis for al Qaeda.
“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.”
Ahmed Abassi, a Tunisian national, has been indicted for fraudulently applying “for a work visa in order to remain in the United States to facilitate an act of international terrorism.” Abassi, who previously lived in Canada, is tied to a terror plot linked to al Qaeda elements in Iran to blow up a commuter train between Canada and the US.
A senior police official said two suspects involved in a plot to blow up a train received “support from al Qaeda elements located in Iran.” A Linkedin page of one of the suspects displayed al Qaeda’s black banner.