''''''''''''''''

1. The Life of Osama
bin Laden in Iran
I have said many times that in Saudi Arabia Osama bin Laden was a hero of
the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan (1979-1989), and that in 1991 he
became an enemy of the Saudi King, when the Saudi King invited the
Americans to protect Saudi Arabia from Saddam Hussein and Iraq. Saddam
Hussein had invaded Kuwait, he had taken under his control the oil fields of
Kuwait, and the Iraqi army was very close to the Saudi oil fields.

2. Osama bin Laden wanted a local army to fight Saddam Hussein, probably
under his leadership, and called the Saudi King an apostate when he brought
the Americans to the Holy Lands of Saudi Arabia. For the Saudi King it was
a much safer bet to invite the Americans, because they had a much stronger
army, and he would not face the risk of a hero, whether Osama or somebody
else, who could make a coup and overturn him.
In 1992 Osama bin Laden went to Sudan, the strongest ally of Iran at the
time, and Iran, Sudan and Hezbollah trained his men. Iran and Osama bin
Laden had the same enemies i.e. the crusaders (NATO) and the Muslim
apostates (the Saudi King). One of the many unholy alliances. See “The
Hezbollah-Al Qaeda Axis”.
https://iakal.wordpress.com/2016/05/22/the-hezbollah-al-qaeda-axis/
In1996 Osama bin Landen left Sudan and went to Afghanistan, where he
was given refuge by the Taliban. Remember that it is the time the Taliban
take control of Afghanistan (1996-2001), and the Clinton administration
negotiates with the Taliban, asking them to allow the pipelines for the oil
and gas of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, in exchange for international
recognition for their cruel government. See “The Afghan Oil Pipeline and
the US Negotiations with the Taliban”.
https://iakal.wordpress.com/2016/07/01/the-afghan-oil-pipeline-and-the-us-
negotiations-with-the-taliban/
Negotiations almost collapsed between the Clinton administration and the
Taliban when bin Laden’s men attacked the American embassies in
Tanzania and Kenya, with 200 dead and hundreds of others being wounded.

3. And when George Bush restarted the negotiations in 2001, Osama came
back with a more spectacular attack at the Twin Towers (9/11), and
negotiations were over, and the Americans invaded Afghanistan.
The story goes that Osama bin Laden lived in caves in Afghanistan and
Pakistan for the period 2001-2011, until the American navy seals killed him
in Pakistan, where he was hiding.
However as you can read at the following Fox News article, there were
rumors that Osama was leading a comfortable life in Iran, enjoying full
protection from the Iranian government. Obviously I do not know whether
this is true or not, but it is a well known fact that Iran very often
accommodated Al Qaeda leaders. See Foreign Affairs “Al Qaeda in Iran:
Why Tehran is Accommodating the Terrorist Group”, January 2012.
I think it is convenient for Iran to accommodate Al Qaeda leaders, because
Iran and Al Qaeda had common enemies (USA and the Saudi King), but
they were still enemies. And we all saw them killing each other when the
Arab Spring in Syria broke out in 2011. By having Al Qaeda leaders leaving
in Iran, the Iranians were sure that Al Qaeda would honor their agreements.
There was also the documentary about Osama bin Laden leaving in Iran. A
documentary made by an ex consultant of the Shah of Iran, who started
working for the Al Sauds when the Shah was overturned by the Islamists.
He, and an ex-CIA agent claim that Osama had a comfortable leaving in Iran
for the period 2003-2009.

4. What makes this story more plausible is that one of the daughters of Osama
bin Laden asked for asylum in the Saudi embassy of Iran, supposedly having
escaped from the house she was leaving with her father. See New York
Times “Bin Laden Daughter in Iran Seeks Refuge”, December 2009.
I have no idea whether it is true or not, but it would surprise nobody if Iran
had accommodated bin Laden for a while. The Iranians have done it with
other Al Qaeda leaders, so why not with Osama bin Laden too? And I think
for our understanding it is more important that it could have happened than
whether it actually did happen.
Articles
“Usama Bin Laden Is Living Comfortably in Iran, Documentary Asserts”,
May 2010
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/05/03/usama-bin-laden-living-
comfortably-iran-documentary-asserts.html
“Al Qaeda in Iran: Why Tehran is Accommodating the Terrorist
Group”, January 2012
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/iran/2012-01-29/al-qaeda-iran
“Bin Laden Daughter in Iran Seeks Refuge”, December 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/24/world/middleeast/24binladen.html
“The Terrorist Groups Lashkar e Taiba and Haqqani Network”.

5. https://iakal.wordpress.com/2016/07/06/the-terrorist-groups-lashkar-e-taiba-
and-haqqani-network/

6. https://iakal.wordpress.com/2016/07/06/the-terrorist-groups-lashkar-e-taiba-
and-haqqani-network/