IRGC Funds Al-Qaeda's Military Operations in Region, Says Afghanistan United Front

Afghanistan United Front (AUF) claimed that Esmail Qaani, commander of Quds Force, in a secret meeting with representatives of Al-Qaeda and Taliban, had stated that Iran is willing to fund Al-Qaeda's activities in Afghanistan and Middle East.

Qaani mentioned that their common goal is to expel the United States from the Middle East.

The Afghanistan United Front led by Sami Sadat, reported that the agreement to fund Al-Qaeda's military operations was made during a meeting in October 2021, attended by the current leader of Al-Qaeda, senior Taliban representatives, and the commander of the Quds Force.

According to the report, Esmail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force, the external branch of Iran's Islamic Republic Guards Corp (IRGC), Saif al-Adel, former global operations commander of Al-Qaeda and the current leader of the network, and senior Taliban representatives were present at the meeting in Tehran.

This was the first meeting between the IRGC commander, the leader of Al-Qaeda, and senior Taliban representatives in Tehran.

AUF’s report stated that during this meeting, Qaani congratulated the Taliban on their victory in Afghanistan and added that they accomplished a great task, and it was time to focus on expelling US forces from the Middle East.

Sami Sadat, a former Afghan army commander who went to the US after the fall of the Afghan government, later founded the Afghanistan United Front with several other Afghans.

This week, the group prepared an intelligence assessment of Al-Qaeda's activities in Afghanistan and worldwide, a copy of which was provided to Afghanistan International.

The report did not specify the sources or the organisations with which this assessment was prepared.

The Afghanistan United Front stated that senior IRGC and Al-Qaeda representatives agreed on cooperation and peace between Iran's proxy groups and Al-Qaeda branches in the Middle East and Africa. According to the report, "Peace was established between the Houthis and Al-Qaeda in the Middle East, and coordination was achieved with Hezbollah and militia groups in Iraq and Syria."

The group also claimed that the increased presence of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan is a result of the agreement between the Taliban, Iran, and Al-Qaeda.

The report stated, "It was agreed that the Taliban would provide space and tools for training Al-Qaeda's combat forces in Afghanistan. The IRGC is ready to cover all of Al-Qaeda's expenses in Afghanistan and the network's overseas operations in the Middle East and Africa."

After the fall of the first Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001, Al-Qaeda fighters and part of Osama bin Laden's family, the former leader of Al-Qaeda, resided in Iran.

In February 2023, the US Department of State announced that Saif al-Adel, an Egyptian Islamist, was in Iran and had assumed leadership of Al-Qaeda after the death of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the former leader of the group.

In the same month, the UN sanctions monitoring team reported that the overwhelming majority of the team's members believed that Saif al-Adel, who had been operating in Iran under the protection of the Islamic Republic for years, was the current leader of Al-Qaeda.

The US Department of State has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to Saif al-Adel due to his role in the attacks on US embassies in Africa.

Iran has denied the presence of the Al-Qaeda leader within its borders, calling it part of the US “Iranophobia” campaign.

AUF reported that after the three parties' meeting and commitments, Al-Qaeda's recruitment and training centres have significantly increased in Afghanistan, and the terrorist group's financial capacity in the Middle East and Africa has been strengthened.

The report added, "Since early July, the IRGC has been closely cooperating with Abdul Rahman al-Maghrebi, Al-Qaeda's second-in-command, to arm and support Ibrahim al-Banna, the new Al-Qaeda leader in the Middle East, to increase attacks in the Red Sea and target Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates."

According to the report, in June 2022, the IRGC commander asked Saif al-Adel, the current leader of Al-Qaeda, to attack Israeli embassies and intelligence agencies in the UAE. Iran was supposed to provide the explosives, while Al-Qaeda would be responsible for the operational force.

Following these increased threats, Israeli diplomats and intelligence officers were forced to leave the UAE.

The Afghanistan United Front stated that Iran believed its nuclear scientists and military commanders were being targeted by Israeli intelligence based in the UAE.

According to the report, in January 2024, as the US and British navies increased pressure on the Houthis, the IRGC asked Al-Qaeda to plan attacks on US and British embassies.

The task was given to Khalid Batarfi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, but he died a month later from an unknown illness. The report added that the attack has been postponed but not cancelled.