There is a history of cooperation between Iran and al-Qaeda, the head of contemporary jihadism, before the elimination of its leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri. However, this cooperation must be precisely understood. In past decades, al-Qaeda leaders received training in Iran on explosives use and received advice and training from Hezbollah in Lebanon. Before the 9/11 attacks, several al-Qaeda planners traveled through Iranian territory. It is important to remember that al-Qaeda forces have fought alongside groups supported by Iran in various regions of the Middle East, such as Lebanese Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen. Although many al-Qaeda members harbor dissatisfaction towards Iranians, the relationship with them was preferred by members of the Free Syrian Army when Hezbollah elements were arrested from the al-Nusra Front.

Al-Qaeda leaders and fighters were trained in Iran on the use of explosives and military tactics, along with intelligence coordination. Many reports indicate that Iran provided intelligence information to al-Qaeda in some cases, especially after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, where Iranian efforts strengthened al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq under the leadership of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, aligning the interests of both parties until Iran managed to present its credentials, along with the Syrian regime, by fighting these radical Sunni organizations. Let’s not forget that Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri was nicknamed “resident of Zahedan,” a city in Iran where he was hiding before being exposed. During the conflict between ISIS and al-Nusra, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the official spokesman for ISIS at the time, revealed the relationship of al-Zawahiri and al-Qaeda with Iran.

As for ISIS, Iran and the Islamic State (ISIS) appear to be opponents, but the ideological disparity has helped Iran to mobilize its popular base and draw it towards itself, as ISIS considers all Shiites apostates who must be killed to pave the way for a purer form of Islam. Meanwhile, Iran considers ISIS a terrorist group hostile to the family of the Prophet and Islam. There has been mutual benefit in the issue of military intervention since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, where Iran supported the Syrian regime against its opponents, with the pretext, of course, being ISIS. Iran also provided assistance to Iraq in confronting ISIS, deploying its forces in Iraq and establishing the Popular Mobilization Forces.

Despite reports of cooperation between the United States and Iran in combating ISIS, both countries worked to exploit these jihadist groups for their benefit. Since the Afghan war until today, these jihadist groups emerge under the pretext of supporting Islam and the Sunnis, serving as a tool for the enemies of the Sunnis. Whenever Iran faces the international community, it uses ISIS and then seeks cooperation to fight it. Thus, it appears that the fate of the Sunnis is to be a tool in Iran’s hands, exploited through jihadists, and they are distracted by side issues of no significance.

Will Sunni Muslims realize that the solution is not in jihadist movements that are cooperative and functional, but in building a strong and genuine state, a strong and genuine society, and a free, democratic, secular population that prevents the exploitation of religion through radical organizations, all of whose movements benefit the enemies of Muslims and Sunnis?

Can all Islamic thinkers tell us what is the benefit of these jihadist movements to the Sunni people?
Have these terrorist organizations been able to protect the Sunnis or help them progress even a single step, whether politically or economically?
Or were these organizations the main reason for breaking the backbone of the Sunnis in the region, branding them all as terrorists, then monopolizing the state by Iran and its proxies, and by despotic rulers?
ISIS and al-Qaeda have provided great services to Iran, which it could not have dreamed of, and these organizations have managed to make American support for them since the Cold War into a conflict that was not up to its size. Instead, these organizations have brought two teams against the Sunnis in the region, not just in Syria:
The first team: foreign occupation, whether in Afghanistan or Iraq.
The second team: despotic regimes that reject secularism and the rule of law and ravage homelands with the excuses of these organizations that cooperate with both teams.
Isn’t it time for the Sunnis to wake up and reject these organizations that have violated their sanctity and made them vulnerable to every occupier and tyrant?
The mind that sees these organizations and their danger and continues to support them is a mind that truly deserves every calamity that happens to it!!
Will the Sunnis wake up and choose to build a secular democratic Syrian state and kick away all those exploitative organizations and their malicious ideas?
Will the Sunnis in Syria wake up and realize that Bashar al-Assad is pleased with every religious turn taught about loyalty and enmity, without a curriculum for building a free and just state?
Will the Sunnis wake up and realize that we have passed the seventh century by five centuries and that political concepts have changed, while

the concepts of those organizations that want us to live outside the era and reality have not and will not change?
Will we remain a plaything in Iran’s hands in Syria, being moved as it wishes for its benefit? And numbed by these miserable organizations?

Farhad Rukn al-Din
Independent Researchers
Syrian Future Movement

References:
(1) Rival Islamic States: ISIS v Iran | Wilson Center. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/rival-islamic-states-isis-v-iran-0.
(2) Iran terror blast highlights success – and growing risk – of ISIS-K regional strategy. https://theconversation.com/iran-terror-blast-highlights-success-and-growing-risk-of-isis-k-regional-strategy-220586.
(3) Why Are Al Qaeda Leaders in Iran? | Foreign Affairs. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/afghanistan/2021-02-11/why-are-al-qaeda-leaders-iran.
(4) Iran’s Ties to Al-Qaeda – The Heritage Foundation. https://www.heritage.org/sites/default/files/2021-02/FS_198.pdf.
(5) Newly Released Bin Laden Document Describes Iran, Al Qaeda Link – NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/newly-released-bin-laden-document-describes-iran-al-qaeda-link-n816681.
(6) Unlikely Alliance: Iran’s Secretive Relationship with Al-Qaeda. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/unlikely-alliance-irans-secretive-relationship-with-al-qaeda/.
(7) https://www.france24.com/ar/20140512-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A-%D8%AC%D8%A8%D9%87%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B8%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%B1%D9%8A

How long will Iran exploit Sunni jihadists for its own benefit?