US Confirms Killing of Al-Qaeda's 2nd Commander

On Tuesday, the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo confirmed the killing of Al Qaeda’s No. 2 Commander, Abu Muhammad al-Masri, who was accused of masterminding the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

In a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, Pompeo said that the terrorist commander was killed on Aug. 7 last year, affirming that the al-Qaeda terrorist group has established a new home base in Iran.

Notably, Masri, one of al Qaeda's founding leaders, was killed along with his daughter, the widow of former al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s son, Hamza bin Laden, the Times reported.

Masri had been in Iran’s “custody” since 2003 but had been living freely in an upscale suburb of Tehran since 2015, the Times cited unnamed U.S. intelligence officials as saying.

Earlier in November, the New York Times reported that Abu Muhammad al-Masri, accused of helping to mastermind the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa, was gunned down by Israeli operatives in Iran. Iran denied the report, saying there were no al Qaeda “terrorists” on its soil.

Iran has been a target throughout Donald Trump's administration and Pompeo has sought to further place intense pressure on Iran in recent weeks with more sanctions and offensive rhetoric.

Pompeo has accused Iran of links to al Qaeda in the past but has not provided concrete evidence.

“There have been times the Iranians have worked alongside al Qaeda,” then CIA director Pompeo said in October 2017.

Earlier accusations by the George W. Bush administration of Iranian links to al Qaeda’s Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States have been discredited. But reports have surfaced over the years of al Qaeda operatives hiding out in Iran.

A former senior U.S. intelligence official with direct knowledge of the issue said the Iranians were never friendly with al Qaeda before or after the Sept. 11 attacks and any claims of current cooperation should be viewed warily.