State Dept: No Active Al Qaeda, Hezbollah Terror Cells in Western Hemisphere

A new report on world international terrorism activities released by the State Department asserts that there were "no known operational cells" of Al Qaeda or Hezbollah in the Western Hemisphere during the year 2012. This is despite the report acknowledging Iran's increased presence in the hemisphere along with the country's "marked resurgence" of sponsored terrorism.


The State Department released the "Country Reports on Terrorism 2012" late last week which details the United States' assessment of terrorism and counter-terrorism activities in countries around the globe. The Department detailed Iran's "marked resurgence" of terrorism saying:

[Iran] trained Taliban elements on small unit tactics, small arms, explosives, and indirect fire weapons, such as mortars, artillery, and rockets.
[...]
Since 2006, Iran has arranged arms shipments to select Taliban members, including small arms and associated ammunition, rocket propelled grenades, mortar rounds, 107mm rockets, and plastic explosives.
[...]
Iran allowed Al Qaeda (AQ) facilitators Muhsin al Fadhli and Adel Radi Saqr al Wahabi al Harbi to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iran, enabling AQ to move funds and fighters to South Asia and to Syria.

[link to www.state.gov]

[link to www.longwarjournal.org]

The report also noted Iran's advances toward countries in the Western Hemisphere citing that Iranian President Ahmadinejad visited Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. "The United States continued to monitor such initiatives," the report added.

This report comes on the heels of the Argentine prosecutor assigned to investigate a 1994 terrorist attack accusing Iran of operating "intelligence stations" that were "destined to commit, encourage and sponsor terror attacks."

[link to www.breitbart.com]

[link to www.breitbart.com]

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