US says al-Qaida chief Sayf al-Adl is in Iran

ALBAWABA - The United States government confirmed a U.N. assessment that concluded that the new de-facto head of the al-Qaida terror group, Sayf al-Adl, is living in Iran.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters in Washington that offering a "safe haven to al-Qaida is just another example of Iran’s wide-ranging support for terrorism, its destabilizing activities in the Middle East and beyond."

The United Nations based its assessment on member state intelligence.

A U.N. report concluded that the former Egyptian special forces officer,  had taken over the leadership of al-Qaida following the July 2022 killing of former leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in an airstrike in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations denied the assessments in a tweet Wednesday. “It is worth noting that the address for the so-called newly appointed Al-Qaeda leader is incorrect. This misinformation could potentially hinder efforts to combat terrorism,” it said.

The FBI  has placed a $10 million bounty on Al-Adl, who is on the United States' most wanted list for the 1998 bombings at the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, which killed 224 people and injured thousands of others.