Al Qaeda’s Network in Iran
“An al Qaeda cell slated to take part in one of the final plots ordered by Osama bin Laden made use of an Iran-based terror network that, according to the Obama administration, operates “under an agreement between al Qaeda and the Iranian government.” That revelation has emerged from legal proceedings in Germany, including the trial of Ahmad Wali Siddiqui, an al Qaeda recruit who took the stand for the first time last week in Koblenz...........
[Big SNIP]
When exposing al Qaeda’s Iran-based network in 2011, the Obama administration highlighted its role in the Iraq and Afghan wars. But this same network has delivered recruits to al Qaeda who were slated to take part in attacks in the West. Iranian officials may or may not have known the specific details of Osama bin Laden’s 2010 plot. But we do know this: Al Qaeda’s Iranian network has a global reach, capable of delivering trained terrorists to Europe’s doorstep.”
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/al-qaeda-s-network-iran_634428.html?nopager=1
The idea of Iran supporting al-Qaeda in their efforts to kill fellow Shiites in Iraq is unnatural and doesn’t make sense. The fact that the US and Iran have common deadly enemies in the Taliban, al-Qaeda and Salafist-Wahhabist extremism is all the more reason for a lowering of tensions between the two countries. A strong Iran as a counter to regional Sunni hegemony is in the US’s interests.