In one of the documents that the CIA released on Wednesday, slain al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden made it clear that the “Iranians are not to be trusted” despite evidence of strong ties between the terrorist group and Iran.
The document was released as part of 470,000 additional files found in May 2011 when US Navy SEALs burst into Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and shot him dead.
The slain al-Qaeda chief’s son Hamza was in Iran when in September 2010, Osama bin Laden wrote a letter to his three sons, including Hamza, as well as one of his wives and grandchildren.
Bin Laden made it clear that the “Iranians are not to be trusted” and he wanted his wife to “leave everything behind,” just in case some sort of tracking device was implanted within her possessions.
He worried about Hamza’s security and suggested that he travel to Qatar, where he could lay low and study.
After Hamza did not take his father’s advice, he made his way into Pakistan. But Bin Laden insisted that the terrorist group’s heir move to Qatar.
Bin Laden’s suspicions of Iran came despite one of the newly released documents showing al-Qaeda's links to Tehran.
The 19-page document recounts an offer by Iran to provide al-Qaeda with “money, arms” and “training in Hezbollah camps in Lebanon, in exchange for striking American interests in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.”
The very fact that Hamza and other senior figures appear to be able to live under Iranian protection or custody supports claims that Tehran and Bin Laden had a working relationship, analysts have said.
