Al-Qaeda, Israel’s Trojan horse in Middle East: Iranian MP

An Iranian lawmaker says the Taliban and Al-Qaeda militant groups are playing the role of Trojan horse for the Zionist regime in the Middle East.

“The Zionist regime has become the largest training base for active terrorists in the Middle East region and the footprint of this sinister regime can be easily traced in recent terrorist operations,” Mohammad-Hassan Asafari, member of Iran Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said on Tuesday.

Referring to the al-Qaeda’s presence in Syria, the lawmaker said the group’s terrorist activities in the Arab country are apparent evidence to their close relationship with the US government.

Asafari emphasized that thousands of al-Qaeda-linked terrorists from Saudi Arabia, Libya, Jordan and other countries have entered Syria in recent months to fight against the Syrian government and have been provided with intelligence support by the Israeli regime.

Syria has been the scene of unrest since early 2011 and has witnessed the deaths of many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel in the violence.

Damascus blames Western countries and some of their regional allies for fueling the crisis in the country, and reports indicate that a large number of militants fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals.

A recent UN report revealed that militants, mostly extremist Salafists, have infiltrated Syria from 29 countries to fight against the Damascus government.