LONDON (Reuters) – When al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri spoke in an audio message broadcast to supporters earlier this month, he had harsh words for Iran. Its true face, he said, had been unmasked by its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against fighters loyal to al Qaeda.

Yet it is symptomatic of the peculiar relationship between Tehran and al Qaeda that in the same month Canadian police would accuse “al Qaeda elements in Iran” of backing a plot to derail a passenger train.

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) – When al Qaeda leader Ayman
al-Zawahiri spoke in an audio message broadcast to supporters
earlier this month, he had harsh words for Iran. Its true face,
he said, had been unmasked by its support for Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad against fighters loyal to al Qaeda.

Yet it is symptomatic of the peculiar relationship between
Tehran and al Qaeda that in the same month Canadian police would
accuse “al Qaeda elements in Iran” of backing a plot to derail a
passenger train.