CIA Director Mike Pompeo said that the CIA will soon publish documents revealing Iran’s work with al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

 

Pompeo described the connection between Iran and al-Qaeda as an “open secret”.

 

“It’s an open secret and not classified information that there have been relationships, there are connections,” Pompeo said during an event held by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies on Thursday in Washington DC. “There have been times the Iranians have worked alongside al-Qaeda.”

 

Pompeo added that they have cut deals so as not to come after each other. He said that the intelligence community is still monitoring those ties, especially given the complexity of the situation in Syria.

 

The director also discussed Iran’s interference in regional state affairs, sponsoring terrorism and causing unrest. He also spoke about Iran’s ballistic missiles program and their nuclear efforts.

 

He confirmed that US President Donald Trump had given the security services greater potential to carry out their work. This comes days after the US president announced his policy towards Iran.

 

National Security Adviser H.R McMaster stressed that the strategy would use all means at its disposal to counter Iranian actions.

 

Washington now insists it wants a strong Iraq that does not fall into the hands of Iran and will dry the sources of funding for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

 

The US administration also issued an ultimatum to Iran to stop its use of armed militias in the region and said it would implement the strategy in cooperation with its partners in the Middle East.