brief - Iran 911 Case

instrument of foreign and domestic policy, and they debunk the prior conventionalwisdom that Sunni and Shi‘a terror groups cannot and do not work together. (The lateOsama bin Laden‘s al Qaeda are Sunni; Iran and Hizballah are Shi‘a.) They describehow the Iranian state makes decisions and the critical roles played by the SupremeLeader, the IRGC, the MOIS, and other parts of the state apparatus in matters ofterrorism. Ms. Lopez and Dr. Tefft discuss how Iran controls proxy terroristorganizations, most notably its own creation, Hizballah, Iran‘s close relationship withHizballah‘s master terrorist Imad Mughniyah, and how the Iran-Hizballah-al Qaedarelationship began and developed over time. Additionally, the Lopez-Tefft Affidavitexamines the testimony of the three MOIS defectors, Witnesses X, Y, and Z, and formerIranian president Abolhassan Banisadr, and the reasons for crediting the testimony ofeach of those witnesses.We conclude that Imad Mughniyah, the most notable and notoriousworld terrorist of his time, an agent of Iran and a senior operative ofHizballah, facilitated the international travel of certain 9/11 hijackers toand from Iran, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan, and perhapsvarious other locations for the purpose of executing the events ofSeptember 11, 2001. This support enabled two vital aspects of theSeptember 11, 2001 plot to succeed: (1) the continued training of thehijackers in Afghanistan and Iran after securing their United States visasin Saudi Arabia, and (2) entry into the United States.. . . .We conclude that the material support provided by Iran/Hizballahto al Qaeda both BEFORE and AFTER the events of September 11, 2001involved, among other matters, planning, recruitment, training, financialservices, expert advice and assistance, lodging and safe houses, falsedocumentation and identification, communications equipment, facilities,weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel, and travel facilitation.Ex. 6, Lopez-Tefft Affid. 35, 37 (emphasis omitted).e. Dr. Ronen Bergman. Considered one of the principal experts on theIsraeli intelligence community‘s assessment of Iran in general, and the Iranian support of26