How the Gaza Crisis Could Bring Iran and Al-Qaeda in Yemen Together

How the Gaza Crisis Could Bring Iran and Al-Qaeda in Yemen Together How the Gaza Crisis Could Bring Iran and Al-Qaeda in Yemen Together By: Assim al-Sabri December 11, 2023 How the Gaza Crisis Could Bring Iran and Al-Qaeda in Yemen Together By: Assim al-Sabri December 11, 2023 Cover photo: AQAP militants in Azzan, Shabwa, in 2012 // Photo by Abdelrazzaq al-Jamal The Sana’a Center for Strategic Stu. [...] It reached out to a group very much on the margins of its sphere of influence, Al- Qaeda in Yemen, according to two sources within the group, one a security officer and the second a senior foreign jihadist. [...] A week before the Al-Aqsa Flood attacks, Saif al-Adl reportedly sent a loyalist to Yemen to deliver a written message, commending the Yemeni Al-Qaeda branch for its recent activities against local forces allied with Washington and calling on the group to prepare for a new stage of action against Western interests in the region. [...] According to the two Al-Qaeda sources, the letter included a recommendation that the group enter into a semi- formal strategic alliance with Iran, stop all fighting and operations targeting Iran-allied groups in the region (an implicit reference to the Houthis), and thus become an active force in the Iranian geopolitical axis opposed to the West. [...] This analysis is part of a series of publications produced by the Sana’a Center and funded by the government of the Kingdom of The Netherlands.