Muhammad Reza Heydari, a former Iranian diplomat residing in Norway, who defected from power following the suppression of popular protests in 2009, revealed that "some al-Qaeda operatives and their families have for a very long time been secretly staying in Iran."
His remarks came days after it was revealed that Israel had assassinated a prominent al-Qaeda leader who was staying with his daughter in an upscale neighborhood in the Iranian capital, Tehran.
In an interview with the French magazine "Le Point", Heydari said that "Tehran's strategy is to establish contacts with the enemies of the United States in order to target Washington's interests in the region."
On his part, Raz Zimat, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), explained that “Iran's reception of Al-Qaeda officials can be understood that Tehran is seeking to control the group’s activities and thus prevent it from attacking Iranian territory, and it naturally hopes to cooperate with Al Qaeda. Against American targets. "
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