Iran has “categorically” rejected a report by UN experts which claims that al-Qaeda leaders in Iran “have grown more prominent” and have been working with the extremist group’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, to influence developments in Syria. The report quoted unnamed UN member states claiming that the Iranians and al-Zawahiri countered the authority of the leader of an al-Qaeda-linked group and caused “formations, breakaways and mergers of various al-Qaeda-aligned groups in Idlib” in rebel-held northwestern Syria. Alireza Miryousefi, spokesman for Iran’s UN mission, said on Tuesday that the UN report was based on information from an unidentified member of the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against al-Qaeda and the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group, AP reported. “In a letter to the chair of the committee, Iran categorically rejected such a claim and requested corrective measures,” Miryousefi said.
