Al Qaeda Threatens to Assassinate Iranian Military Leader

Knock yourselves out.

WFB

Al Qaeda said that it is planning to assassinate Iran’s top military general, underscoring tensions in the rocky relationship between Tehran and the global terror network.

Al Qaeda claimed in a recent statement to have sent two of its terrorist forces into Iran with the goal of killing Qassem Soleimani, the general of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“We will not assassinate the commander of Iran’s Quds Force by gunshots, but we intend to kill him by a suicide attack,” al Qaeda was reported to have said in a late December statement reported on in the Iranian state-run media.

It remains unclear who in al Qaeda issued the reported statement.

The threat was issued just days before Lebanese security forces arrested an al Qaeda-linked Saudi national in connection with the deadly November bombing of Iran’s embassy in Beirut.

The Iran embassy bombing, which killed 23, is believed to have been orchestrated and executed by an al Qaeda-backed group.

While Iran and al Qaeda have been known to work together on various terror operations targeting the West, their ties have disintegrated in recent months as Tehran looks to flex its regional muscle, according to experts.

Iranian military insiders quickly dismissed al Qaeda’s threats via the country’s state-run Fars News Agency.

“Military analysts believe that such threats and warnings are all nonsense and merely serve psychological operation purposes since the Iranian military commanders are protected by heavy security measures and cannot be reached easily, while the al Qaeda lacks sophisticated skills, ability and the needed organization in Iran,” Fars reported.

These Iranian sources went on to blame “the West” for pitting al Qaeda against Iran.

MORE

.