US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday, without providing hard evidence, that al-Qaeda had established a new home base in Iran and the United States had fewer options in dealing with the group now it was "burrowed inside" that country.
With just eight days left in office for President Donald Trump, Pompeo alleged that Iran has given safe haven to al-Qaeda leaders and support for the group, despite some skepticism within the intelligence community and Congress.
The New York Times reported in November that al-Qaeda's Abu Muhammad al-Masri, accused of helping to mastermind the 1998 bombings of two US 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.
Pompeo told a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington that he was announcing publicly for the first time that al-Masri died on Aug. 7 last year.
Pompeo said his presence in Iran was no surprise, and added: "Al-Masri’s presence inside Iran points to the reason that we're here today ... Al-Qaeda has a new home base: it is the Islamic Republic of Iran."
On Twitter, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif dismissed Pompeo's accusations as "warmongering lies."
Iran has been a target throughout the Trump administration and Pompeo has sought to further ratchet up pressure on Iran in recent weeks with more sanctions and heated rhetoric.
Advisers to President-elect Joe Biden believe the Trump administration is trying to make it harder for him to re-engage with Iran and seek to rejoin an international deal on Iran's nuclear program once he takes office on Jan. 20.
Pompeo added that he was imposing sanctions on Iran-based al-Qaeda leaders and three leaders of al-Qaeda Kurdish battalions.
