US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has alleged that Iran has become a new “home base” for Al-Qaeda worse than Afghanistan.
In a speech a week before leaving office, Pompeo confirmed a New York Times report that Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command was killed last year in Tehran, although he did not say that Israel carried it out.
“Al Qaeda has a new home base. It is the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Pompeo said in a speech at the National Press Club.
“I would say Iran is indeed the new Afghanistan — as the key geographic hub for Al Qaeda — but it’s actually worse.”
“Unlike in Afghanistan, when Al Qaeda was hiding in the mountains, Al Qaeda today is operating under the hard shell of the Iranian regime’s protection.”
He urged more international pressure, calling the alleged alliance a “massive force for evil all over the world”.
