The Obama administration last week slapped sanctions on the three top Al-Qaeda members, saying they are based in Iran, which it accused of helping transfer money and fighters from South Asia to the Mideast. The move froze any assets they may have in U.S. jurisdictions and barred Americans from doing business with them. Iran denied claims by Washington that they are harboring the terror group leaders. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi was quoted as saying that Iran doesn’t have “any information about their presence on its soil.” He also reiterated Iran’s commitment to fighting terrorism and urged the United States to share its “precise information” about the three in order to “better combat terrorism.”
The three — Saudi national Faisal Jassim Mohammed al-Amri al-Khalidi (according to the U.S. Treasury, al-Khalidi is an Al-Qaeda military commission chief and a former battalion commander who had ties with the Pakistani Taliban), Egyptian national Yisra Muhammad Ibrahim Bayumi (Bayumi is the group’s liaison with Iranian authorities) ) and Algerian national Abu Bakr Muhammad Muhammad Ghumayn (Ghumayn is in charge of Al-Qaeda members who are living in Iran)— were identified as “specially designated global terrorists.”
Earlier this year, a United States federal court issued a ruling that Iran and Hezbollah were, in fact, responsible for their parts in the 9/11 attacks by an Al-Qaeda terror cell. A brief summary of those findings are as follows:
* Iran assisted the Al-Qaeda terrorists by permitting them to travel freely from Afghanistan to other countries via Iran where their passports weren’t stamped to permit ease of entry into the United States.
* Terrorists fleeing the US-led invasion were given sanctuary in Iran along with their families.
* A witness testified that Iran procured a Boeing 757-767-777 flight simulator using front companies to facilitate the training of the hijackers’ pilots.
* An Iranian government memorandum proves that Iran’s Supreme Leader knew in advance of the impending attacks.
* The official 9/11 Commission states that “a senior Hezbollah operative” identified as Imad Mughniyah, coordinated Al-Qaeda’s activities and either he or one of his henchmen were on the same Beirut to Tehran flights taken by the hijackers.
* Hezbollah aided the hijackers in planning and advised them on the mechanics of the attacks.
Despite Iran’s blatant denials its harboring top tier Al-Qaeda leadership, what’s more disturbing is the Obama administration admitting Iran’s harboring these terrorist leaders and merely slapping the country with paltry sanctions. It’s no secret that Iran’s been in collusion with the terrorist group Al-Qaeda long before President Obama took office the first time and yet he still felt it necessary to push the Iran nuclear deal. The fable of the Scorpion and the Frog is very fitting given this Obama administration’s “love affair” with Iran for it illustrates that fundamentally vicious natures cannot change. It’s only a matter of time before Iran’s vicious nature is no longer measured in verbal threats but in direct, armed conflict against the U.S. and her allies.
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