US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that al-Qaeda terrorist group established a home base in Iran.
"Al-Masri’s presence inside Iran points to the reason that we're here today... al-Qaeda has a new home base: it is... Iran," he said in remarks delivered at the National Press Club in Washington.
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.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Pompeo's accusations were "warmongering lies" and claimed that no September 11 "terrorists" came from Iran.
"(With) fictitious Iran 'declassifications' and AQ (al-Qaeda) claims, (Pompeo) is pathetically ending his disastrous career with more warmongering lies," Zarif tweeted.
US top diplomat Pompeo says al-Qaeda has new home base in Iran
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