The State Department released its annual report on terrorism yesterday, its first under the Obama administration. As usual, Iran loomed large as “the most active state sponsor of terrorism.” And, once again, the report presents some inconvenient truths for those who insist that the Shiites of Iran cannot cooperate with Sunni terrorist groups, including al Qaeda and the Taliban. Much of this support is funneled through the IRGC and its elite arm, the Qods Force. State explains:
State explained Iran’s support for the Taliban thusly:
In reality, Iran agreed to ship arms to the Taliban long before 2006. But State is right that the arms shipments have been ongoing and have included diverse weaponry. Top American military officials have complained about this state of affairs for years. And what about the substantial al Qaeda network operating on Iranian soil? Iran remained unwilling to bring to justice senior al Qaeda members it has detained, and has refused to publicly identify those senior members in its custody. Iran has repeatedly resisted numerous calls to transfer custody of its al Qaeda detainees to their countries of origin or third countries for trial. Iran also continued to fail to control the activities of some al Qaeda members who fled to Iran following the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. None of this is surprising. Iran has sponsored Sunni terrorist groups, including al Qaeda and its affiliates, across the globe for decades. If anything, State’s write-up of the relationship between the Iranian regime and al Qaeda understates the degree of this worrisome nexus. What our analysts and commentators frequently miss is an obvious and simple fact: Iran’s principle enemies are the U.S. and Israel. The mullahs will sponsor just about any terrorist group that targets those two nations.
