Iran rejects UN report on al-Qaida leaders influencing Syria

CAMEROON, Cameroon – Iran is “categorically” rejecting a report by U.N. experts which says al-Qaida’s leaders in Iran “have grown more prominent” and have been working with the extremist group’s top leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, to influence events in Syria.

The report quoted unnamed U.N. member states saying the Iranians and al-Zawahiri countered the authority of the leader of an al-Qaida-linked group and caused “formations, breakaways and mergers of various al-Qaida-aligned groups in Idlib” in rebel-held northwestern Syria.

Alireza Miryousefi, spokesman for Iran’s U.N. Mission, said Tuesday the experts report was based on information from an unidentified member of the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against al-Qaida and the Islamic State extremist group.

“In a letter to the chair of the committee, Iran categorically rejected such a claim and requested corrective measures,” Miryousefi said.