After the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri in an air strike carried out by a drone targeting his hideout in Kabul in Afghanistan, the question arises about his possible successor to the head of Al-Qaeda, while some names are at the forefront of the organization’s scene, among them Yassin al-Suri.
Izz al-Din Abdul Aziz Khalil, better known as Yassin al-Suri, is one of the most prominent leaders of al-Qaeda linked to Iran, and was born in 1982 in Qamishli in northeastern Syria .
He is one of the al-Qaeda leaders present in Iran, and although the United States designated him on the terrorist list and allocated $3 million to anyone who helps arrest him in 2011, his activity in al-Qaeda began in 2005.
Yassin Al-SuriHe was involved in supervising the transfer of money and men from various Arab countries to Iranian territory, which became his favorite passage to Pakistan, where a number of the organization’s leaders reside .
According to the US Rewards for Justice program, al-Suri was a facilitator of al-Qaeda’s business in Iran, responsible for channeling donation money to al-Qaeda leaders inside Iran, as well as facilitating the movement of fighters to the West and Afghanistan.
In addition, he was proven to be involved in collecting and moving al-Qaeda men’s money, and worked directly with the Iranian government to facilitate the release of al-Qaeda operatives in Iran.
Yassin Al-Suri has been living in Iran since 2005
The Iranian regime has allowed Yasin al-Suri to operate on its soil since 2005 , and thus was able to transfer the donations granted by many supporters of the organization from all over the Arab world, to Iran as a first stage, and from there they are distributed to the theaters of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq or wherever needed .
On July 28 , 2011 , the US Treasury designated Yassin al-Suri on terrorism lists, and the US government’s Rewards for Justice program pledged a reward of up to ten million US dollars for information about him, and then the reward was recently reduced to three million only .
According to Orwa Ajoub, a researcher in the affairs of militant groups, it is difficult to determine the nature of the relationship between Yassin al-Suri and Iran since his arrest in 2011 because the matter was not disclosed by the United States, which was behind its classification as a collaborator with Iran .
Yassin al-Suri..the safe passage for the transfer of al-Qaeda operatives and funds to Iran
Orwa Ajoub said in an interview with Akhbar Al- Aan : “ But when the issue is related to the relationship between the mother al-Qaeda and Iran, this relationship can be described as tactical cooperation, as described by one of the academic specialists in the study of counter-terrorism, Assaf Makdana, and what we mean here is that al-Qaeda and Iran share the same enemy, which is the United States, but At the same time, they each have their own ideological ideas that portray the other side as an enemy.”
The Iranian authorities had arrested Yasin al-Suri in December 2011 after announcing the American reward for reporting him, but it officially denied his presence on its soil in an attempt to evade responsibility .
According to the statements of Orwa Ajoub, the roots of the relationship between al-Qaeda and Iran go back to the early nineties, when Iran concluded a deal with al-Qaeda men to train some of them in Iran and in Lebanon in the Bekaa Valley with Hezbollah operatives, but the presence of al-Qaeda leaders and members of the bin Laden family in Iran began Actual 2002 or 2003 after the US invasion of Afghanistan.
Looking at the case of Yassin al-Suri, Saif al-Adl, and other al-Qaeda leaders who suffer from “Tehran Syndrome”, it is clear to everyone that Iran’s relationship with al-Qaeda may give it the ability to interfere in choosing the personality that will succeed Ayman al-Zawahiri in the leadership of the organization, as it has become the main and main driver of al-Qaeda. And the real haven for its current leaders, in order to use them in the face of its enemies.