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Iran and al Qaeda: More Enemies Than Allies

Newly released correspondence from Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan contradicts U.S. assertions that al-Qaeda has a close relationship with Iran. Barbara Slavin on how being "the enemy of my enemy" doesn't necessarily make the two friends.
A combination picture of the installation titled "Father, Son and The Holy Ghost", by Dubai based Indian artist Vivek "UBIK" Premachandran during his "Relate to the Matter as I Drop the Bomb" exhibition in Dubai, May 18, 2011. The installation features images of (L-R) U.S. President Barack Obama, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden with the words, The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost spread across each image respectively. REUTERS/Jumana El-Heloueh (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Newly released correspondence from Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan contradicts U.S. assertions that al-Qaeda has a close relationship with Iran.

According to a U.S. analysis of letters found in the Abbottabad compound when U.S. Special Forces killed bin Laden a year ago, “the relationship is not one of alliance, but of indirect and unpleasant negotiations over the release of detained jihadis and their families, including members of bin Laden’s family.”

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