This is TBSI and the world. I'm John Thatcher with Bill Rajo, a Senior Fellow Foundation for the Defense of Democracy.

He and his colleagues keep the Long War Journal. Long war requires memory.

Bill has helped me recover many details from 2021.

And over the years, we've had to understand that while Al Qaeda and the ISIS have different visions of the future,

they can and will work together. Al Qaeda is a senior member of the duo.

Al Qaeda uses ISIS for operations that, let's put it this way,

allow Al Qaeda to remain at arm's length, deniability. But then again, Bill, the Iranians host in some fashion

Al Qaeda senior executives, senior men who can order attacks, long range, can send

invitations out to Afghanistan.

Can we describe Al Qaeda as a front for the Islamic Republic of Iran? We know

Huthies are a front. We know Hamas is a front. We know Hezbollah is a front. We know the gangs of the West Banker a front.

Have you ever heard or seen anybody describe al-Qaeda in Iran as a front?

I have heard this. I view them myself more as an ally. The

truthies, the Iraqi militias, Hezbollah, Hamas, their fellow travelers with the Iranians.

They share, you know, nearly all of the Iranians goals.

Al Qaeda, there's always a tension between Al Qaeda and Iran because of the Sunni

Shia issue. Yet Iran is willing to work with America's enemies against America and the West, right?

So Iran doesn't kill the levers for al-Qaeda like it can with

particularly the Iraqi militias and Hezbollah it more gives them the safe haven and the time and space for Al Qaeda leaders to operate and do their thing.

There is a, and this was under the Obama administration, I believe it was in 2009 or 2010, a designation that talked about

the, and this is quote, secret deal between Iran and al-Qaeda. And that's basically

the agreement. Al-Qaeda doesn't attack Iran or Iranian interest or conduct attacks inside of Iran.

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