JEDDAH: Wednesday’s release by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of documents seized during the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden has “conclusively proved” the terror chief’s cosy relationship with Iran, experts say.
US intelligence officials and prosecutors have long said Iran formed loose ties to Al-Qaeda from 1991 onward.
This was noted in a 19-page report in Arabic that was included in the release of some 47,000 other documents by the CIA.
Iran has long denied any involvement with Al-Qaeda, but the report included in the CIA document dump shows how Bin Laden partnered with Tehran to target the US.
The Associated Press (AP) examined a copy of the report released by the Long War Journal, a publication backed by the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank fiercely critical of Iran and skeptical of its nuclear deal with world powers. The CIA gave the Long War Journal early access to the material.
“Anyone who wants to strike America, Iran is ready to support him and help him with their frank and clear rhetoric,” AP quotes the report as saying.
The unsigned report is dated in the Islamic calendar year 1428 (2007), and offers what appears to be a history of Al-Qaeda’s relationship with Iran.
It says Iran offered Al-Qaeda fighters “money and arms and everything they need, and offered them training in Hezbollah camps in Lebanon, in return for striking American interests in Saudi Arabia.”
This coincides with an account offered by the US government’s 9/11 Commission, which said Iranian officials met with Al-Qaeda leaders in Sudan in either 1991 or early 1992.
The commission said Al-Qaeda militants later received training in Lebanon from the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
US prosecutors also said Al-Qaeda had the backing of Iran and Hezbollah in their 1998 indictment of Bin Laden following Al-Qaeda’s truck bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.
Oubai Shahbandar, a Syrian-American analyst and fellow at the New America Foundation’s International Security Program, said the documents provide for the first time direct evidence of the symbiotic relationship between Al-Qaeda’s most senior operatives and Tehran.
“Without Iranian support and safe haven, Al-Qaeda as an organization couldn’t have endured for as long as it did following the international backlash it faced after the 9/11 terror attacks,” Shahbandar told Arab News.
“That Bin Laden was personally involved in establishing Al-Qaeda’s network in Iran shows how shrewd and cynical the regime in Tehran truly is, and how capable and willing it is to support international extremist groups like Al-Qaeda and its successor Daesh.”
Harvard scholar and Iranian affairs expert Majid Rafizadeh said he is not surprised by the damning revelations.
“There has long been strong evidence showing the connection between Tehran and Al-Qaeda, including the fact that the Iranian regime has sheltered Al-Qaeda leaders,” he told Arab News.
“Iran is the top state sponsor of terrorism. Its regime supports, funds, arms and trains any terrorist group that shares its revolutionary values, such as anti-Americanism and pursuing hegemonic ambitions in the region,” he said.
“As a US federal judge found, Iran was a key player in facilitating the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The US should’ve confronted the Iranian regime, not Iraq,” Rafizadeh added.
“The US should hold the Iranian regime, and those leaders who helped facilitate the 9/11 attacks, accountable through various means such as sanctioning them, bringing them to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and isolating them.”
On Thursday, the semi-official Fars news agency, which is close to Iran’s hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), dismissed the CIA documents as “a project against Tehran.”
CIA documents ‘conclusive proof of Al-Qaeda-Iran ties’
CIA documents ‘conclusive proof of Al-Qaeda-Iran ties’
Hunger returns to Gaza as Israeli blockade forces bakeries shut
- UN agency: All 25 WFP-supported bakeries in Gaza have shut down due to lack of fuel and flour
- International charities working in Gaza warn that its 2.4 million people cannot endure more shortages
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: At an industrial bakery in war-ravaged Gaza City, a conveyor belt that once churned out thousands of pitta breads every day has come to a standstill.
The Families Bakery is one of about two dozen supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) that have halted production in recent days due to flour and fuel shortages resulting from an Israeli blockade.
“All 25 WFP-supported bakeries in Gaza have shut down due to lack of fuel and flour,” the UN agency said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that it would “distribute its last food parcels in the next two days.”
Abed Al-Ajrami, chairman of the Bakery Owners Association in Gaza and owner of the Families Bakery, said that the WFP was the only sponsor of Gaza bakeries and provided them with “all their needs.”
“The repercussions from the closure of the bakeries will be very hard on citizens because they have no alternative to resort to,” he said.
Speaking in front of a large industrial oven that had not been fired up, he said that bakeries were central to the UN agency’s food distribution program, which delivered the bread to refugee camps across Gaza.
Despite a six-week truce that allowed displaced Gazans to return to what remained of their homes, negotiations for a lasting end to the fighting have stalled.
On March 2, Israel imposed a full blockade on the Palestinian territory, and cut off power to Gaza’s main water desalination plant.
On March 18, Israel resumed its strikes on Gaza. Days later, Hamas again began firing rockets at Israel.
The Palestinian militant group has accused Israel of using starvation as “a direct weapon in this brutal war,” pointing to the bakeries’ closure as an example.
It called on Arab and Muslim countries to “act urgently to save Gaza from famine and destruction.”
Residents of Gaza City were wary of the future.
“I got up in the morning to buy bread for my children but I found all the bakeries closed,” Mahmud Khalil said.
Fellow resident Amina Al-Sayed echoed his comments.
“I’ve been going from bakery to bakery all morning, but none of them are operating, they’re all closed,” she said, adding that she feared the threat of famine would soon stalk Gaza once again.
“The price of flour has risen... and we can’t afford it. We’re afraid of reliving the famine that we experienced in the south” of the territory.
International charities working in Gaza warn that its 2.4 million people cannot endure more shortages after many of them were displaced multiple times during the devastating military campaign Israel launched in response to Hamas’s October 2023 attack.
Those who took advantage of the six-week truce to return to bombed out homes have been “arriving in utter destitution,” said Gavin Kelleher of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
“We’ve been set up to fail as a humanitarian response. We’re not allowed to bring in supplies, we’re not able to meet needs,” he lamented.
Alexandra Saieh, of British charity Save The Children, echoed Kelleher’s remarks.
“When Save The Children does distribute food in Gaza, we see massive crowds because every single person in Gaza is relying on aid,” she said.
“That lifeline has been cut.”
Israel expands military effort in Gaza, 15 killed since morning
- Israeli defense minister says large areas in Gaza would be seized and added to Israel's security zones
- Israel resumed air strikes on Gaza and sent ground troops back this month after fragile truce collapsed
JERUSALEM: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced a major expansion of the military operation in Gaza on Wednesday, saying large areas of the enclave would be seized and added to the security zones of Israel.
In a statement, Katz said there would be large-scale evacuation of population from areas where there is fighting, and urged Gazans to eliminate Hamas and return Israeli hostages as the only way to end the war.
He did not make clear how much land Israel intends to seize, however.
Gaza rescuers say 15 killed in Israeli strikes on two houses
Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli air strikes on two houses in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory on Wednesday killed at least 15 people, including children.
“Thirteen martyrs, including children, were killed at dawn when occupation forces (the Israeli army) bombed a house sheltering displaced people in central Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza,” civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding two other people were kiled in an Israeli strike on a house in the Nuseirat camp, in central Gaza.
Israel has already set up a significant buffer zone within Gaza, expanding an area that existed around the edges of the enclave before the war and adding a large security area in the so-called Netzarim corridor through the middle of Gaza.
At the same time, Israeli leaders have said they plan to facilitate voluntary departure of Palestinians from the enclave, after US President Donald Trump called for it to be permanently evacuated and redeveloped as a coastal resort under US control.
Israel resumed air strikes on Gaza and sent ground troops back in this month, after two months of relative calm following the conclusion of a US-backed truce to allow the exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Efforts led by Qatari and Egyptian mediators to get back on tracks talks aimed at ending the war have failed to make progress yet.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the application of military pressure is the best way to get the remaining 59 hostages back.
Young Turks drive protests against Erdogan as new generation seeks change
- Hundreds of thousands of Turks nationwide have heeded opposition calls to protest since Imamoglu was detained last week
- As protests continue, young Turks insist their demands are simple: democracy, accountability, and a future worth staying for
ANKARA: A new generation of young Turks is at the forefront of mass protests against President Tayyip Erdogan’s government, demanding change in a country they see as increasingly authoritarian. Demonstrations erupted after Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a popular opposition figure, was jailed pending trial on corruption charges. Unlike older generations who remember the heavy crackdown on the 2013 anti-government Gezi Park protests, today’s young protesters say they are undeterred by the risks.
“I think growing up under just one regime makes us a generation looking for change, looking for proof we live in a democracy,” said Yezan Atesyan, a 20-year-old student at Middle East Technical University (METU).
“The idea of a power that lasts forever scares us.”
Hundreds of thousands of Turks nationwide have heeded opposition calls to protest since Imamoglu was detained last week.
Protests have been mostly peaceful, but more than 2,000 people have been detained.
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), other opposition parties, rights groups and some Western powers have all said the case against Imamoglu is a politicised effort to eliminate a potential electoral threat to Erdogan.
The government denies any influence over the judiciary and says the courts are independent.
Students from across Turkey have mobilized, facing police blockades and water cannon trucks. Drone footage from METU captured clashes between protesters and state security forces.
Atesyan said all were targetted in the crackdown: "Not just minorities, not just women, not just the LGBT community — it is against all of us."
A GENERATION ON EDGE
Beyond political frustration, economic hardship has fueled the unrest. High inflation and unemployment have made young people feel their future is slipping away.
“I graduated in 2024, but I can’t find a job, and my family struggles financially,” said 25-year-old protester Duygu at an opposition rally in Istanbul.
She fears for her safety but also worries about her friends. “Some of them have already been detained.”
Concerns over the state's response are growing. “I don’t want to show my face because the police could come for me,” said Duygu, who wears a mask at protests. “If that happens, it would devastate my family.”
Despite the risks, demonstrators remain resolute.
“This feels like our last chance,” Atesyan said.
“If we don’t succeed, many of us will have to leave Turkey.”
The government dismisses the protests as politically motivated, but the youth-driven unrest signals a growing divide.
“Imamoglu represents hope,” Atesyan said. “The possibility of real change.”
As protests continue, young Turks insist their demands are simple: democracy, accountability, and a future worth staying for.
Israel expands military effort in Gaza, 15 killed since morning
- Katz said there would be large-scale evacuation of population from areas where there is fighting
JERUSALEM: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced a major expansion of the military operation in Gaza on Wednesday, saying large areas of the enclave would be seized and added to the security zones of Israel.
In a statement, Katz said there would be large-scale evacuation of population from areas where there is fighting, and urged Gazans to eliminate Hamas and return Israeli hostages as the only way to end the war.
He did not make clear how much land Israel intends to seize, however.
Gaza rescuers say 15 killed in Israeli strikes on two houses
Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli air strikes on two houses in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory on Wednesday killed at least 15 people, including children.
“Thirteen martyrs, including children, were killed at dawn when occupation forces (the Israeli army) bombed a house sheltering displaced people in central Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza,” civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding two other people were kiled in an Israeli strike on a house in the Nuseirat camp, in central Gaza.
Israel has already set up a significant buffer zone within Gaza, expanding an area that existed around the edges of the enclave before the war and adding a large security area in the so-called Netzarim corridor through the middle of Gaza.
At the same time, Israeli leaders have said they plan to facilitate voluntary departure of Palestinians from the enclave, after US President Donald Trump called for it to be permanently evacuated and redeveloped as a coastal resort under US control.
Israel resumed air strikes on Gaza and sent ground troops back in this month, after two months of relative calm following the conclusion of a US-backed truce to allow the exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Efforts led by Qatari and Egyptian mediators to get back on tracks talks aimed at ending the war have failed to make progress yet.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the application of military pressure is the best way to get the remaining 59 hostages back.
US adding second aircraft carrier to fleet in Middle East
- The Harry S. Truman carrier strike group will be joined by the Carl Vinson “to continue promoting regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement
WASHINGTON: The United States is increasing the number of aircraft carriers deployed in the Middle East to two, keeping one that is already there and sending another from the Indo-Pacific, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
The announcement comes as US forces hammer Yemen’s Houthi rebels with near-daily air strikes in a campaign aimed at ending the threat they pose to civilian shipping and military vessels in the region.
The Carl Vinson will join the Harry S. Truman in the Middle East “to continue promoting regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
“To complement the CENTCOM maritime posture, the secretary also ordered the deployment of additional squadrons and other air assets that will further reinforce our defensive air-support capabilities,” Parnell said, referring to the US military command responsible for the region.
“The United States and its partners remain committed to regional security in the CENTCOM (area of responsibility) and are prepared to respond to any state or non-state actor seeking to broaden or escalate conflict in the region,” he added.
The Houthis began targeting shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden after the start of the Gaza war in 2023, claiming solidarity with Palestinians.
Houthi attacks have prevented ships from passing through the Suez Canal, a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic. Ongoing attacks are forcing many companies into a costly detour around the tip of southern Africa.
A day before the carrier announcement, US President Donald Trump vowed that strikes on Yemen’s Houthis would continue until they are no longer a threat to shipping.
“The choice for the Houthis is clear: Stop shooting at US ships, and we will stop shooting at you. Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Houthis and their sponsors in Iran,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Trump added that the Houthis had been “decimated” by “relentless” strikes since March 15, saying that US forces “hit them every day and night — Harder and harder.”
He has also ramped up rhetoric toward Tehran, with the president threatening that “there will be bombing” if Iran does not reach a deal on its nuclear program.
Trump’s threats come as his administration battles a scandal over the accidental leak of a secret group chat by senior security officials on the Yemen strikes.
The Atlantic magazine revealed last week that its editor — a well-known US journalist — was inadvertently included in a chat on the commercially available Signal app where top officials were discussing the strikes.
The officials, including Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussed details of air strike timings and intelligence — unaware that the highly sensitive information was being simultaneously read by a member of the media.
