Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, U.S., January 12, 2021. Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS

i24 News – Iran has allowed the al-Qaeda terrorist group to establish a new “operational headquarters” on its territory, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo said Tuesday.

In his remarks at the National Press Club, Pompeo said that al-Qaeda operatives are allowed to conduct activities in Iran as long as they comply with the rules set by Tehran.

Pompeo said that in 2015, Iran and al-Qaeda struck a deal which saw Tehran provide the terrorist group with a safe haven in exchange for its members reporting to Iranian secret services.

He added that Iranian spies had assisted the group in various ways, including by supplying it with forged passports.

He also confirmed a New York Times report saying that Abu Muhammad al-Masri, al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, was shot dead in Tehran.

While the article, published in November 2020, attributed the hit to Israel, Pompeo did not confirm the credit.

According to the report, the terrorist and his daughter had been gunned down by two attackers on a motorbike on August 7, 2020.

Israel’s Channel 12 later reported that the hit had been a joint US-Israeli operation as the terrorist had been planning attacks on Jewish targets worldwide.