By Con Coughlin
Last Updated: 9:18PM GMT 23 Nov 2008

Fresh links between Iran's Revolutionary Guards and al-Qaeda have been uncovered following interception of a letter from the terrorist leadership that hails Tehran's support for a recent attack on the American embassy in Yemen, which killed 16 people.

Delivery of the letter exposed the rising role of Saad bin Laden, son of the al-Qaeda leader, Osama as an intermediary between the organisation and Iran. Saad bin Laden has been living in Iran since the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, apparently under house arrest.

The letter, which was signed by Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's second in command, was written after the American embassy in Yemen was attacked by simultaneous suicide car bombs in September.

Western security officials said the missive thanked the leadership of Iran's Revolutionary Guards for providing assistance to al-Qaeda to set up its terrorist network in Yemen, which has suffered ten al-Qaeda-related terror attacks in the past year, including two bomb attacks against the American embassy.

In the letter al-Qaeda's leadership pays tribute to Iran's generosity, stating that without its "monetary and infrastructure assistance" it would have not been possible for the group to carry out the terror attacks. It also thanked Iran for having the "vision" to help the terror organisation establish new bases in Yemen after al-Qaeda was forced to abandon much of its terrorist infrastructure in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

There has been intense speculation about the level of Iranian support for al-Qaeda since the 9/11 Commission report into al-Qaeda's terror attacks against the U.S. in 2001 concluded that Iran had provided safe passage for many of the 9/11 hijackers travelling between Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia prior to the attacks.

Scores of senior al Qaeda activists - including Saad bin Laden - sought sanctuary in Iran following the overthrow of the Taliban, and have remained in Tehran ever since. The activities of Saad bin Laden, 29, have been a source of Western concern despite Tehran's assurances that he is under official confinement.

But Iran was a key transit route for al Qaeda loyalists moving between battlefields in the Middle East and Asia. Western security officials have also concluded Iran's Revolutionary Guards have supported al-Qaeda terror cells, despite religious divisions between Iran's Shia Muslim revolutionaries and the Sunni Muslim terrorists.

Iran is active in Yemen, Osama bin Laden's ancestral homeland. The country has been a focal point for al-Qaeda, which has found relatively easy targets in its lawless environment. "Yemen is now a key strategic base for al-Qaeda's operations, as well as being fertile recruitment territory," said a senior Western security official. "Iran's Revolutionary Guards have provided important support in helping al-Qaeda to turn Yemen into a major centre of operations."

Apart from the terror attacks against the US embassy al-Qaeda has also threatened to attack the British and Saudi Arabian embassies in Yemen.

Iran's Quds force has been engaging in terrorist activity for awhile. Iran has been at legitimate war with the West for 15 years.

I hope this opens eyes.

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SI VIS PACEM PARA BELLUM

Well maybe you shouldn't be so stingy withe ithe info Sniper
Con Coughlins sources can be a little dubious at times. So if you have anything else on this get it posted pal!

Iran has been at war with the west/America/the UK for a while....I agree...The only thing missing is a decleration...Come on lads Iran have been shiping weapons into Iraq for years...we are at war Jim but not as we know it...not as we know it...

Our problems in Iraq have made Iran a bigger monster then it would have been...Im not surprised Bin ladens boys see Iran as mighty...Iran are defying the west both publicly and in private...We proved the UN as a set up is a joke for them... so there you go

The quicker Israel hit their installations the better

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Hi Ho Hi Ho

Well I would start to agree if Iran hadn't had problems with Al queda too. They have and have arrested many of them!

yeah..
i dont think that Iran has straight connections with such things as Al-queda... Taliban maybe..

basicly now that Bush junior & lackeys went and played the "dessert" first... ><
the only feasable action against Iran now is the shunning (i'm still agnostic)
if the situation evolves to the point that there is a clear and present danger...
that still gives the option of pinpoint strike(s).


imo.. you folks should let the Iranian leadership bore to death..
the more you ansver with arms.. the more situations like iraq youll get..

thease men are all arms anyhows.. show them the broom for once.

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Fair point, but times change and the Iranian regime has proven its very skillful and seizing on opportunities and making the most of them and to quote the old addage "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".....

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"Barrel High, Powder Dry!"

"Illic est haud effrego ex Veneratio"

Forget Al-Qaeda in Iran(not on a large scale anyway and not calling many shots)....I was saying Im not surprised Al-Qaeda are glad with the stance the Iranian high power has taken towards the west it has a knock on effect and inpowers them by default anyway

The arressts Iran have made are just pest control and its them keeping 100% power...it doesnt mean they cant sing from the same hym sheet when it suits......(I get along with my my friend Steve but I wouldnt want to live with him).....

Im not saying Iran and A-Qaeda are hand in hand but certain goals are the same...Iran pouring fighters and weapons into Iraq to slot our boys helps Al-Qaedas cause...Thats common sense

Exo is right ....at times its the case of ....the enemy of my enemy is my friend".....

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Hi Ho Hi Ho

.......true!